Los Angeles Recording School
Locations: Hollywood, CA
Degrees: Certificate
Programs: Recording Arts
Tuition Range: $25,000
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Located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, CA, the Los Angeles Recording School is a subsidiary of Los Angeles Film School, offering a 28-week intensive certificate program in Recording Arts. Students can opt to concentrate on Digital Recording, Music Production or Audio Postproduction for Film/Television. The campus is a combination of classrooms, labs and studios, with an emphasis on hands-on training. Students are given opportunities to apply for available internships, and career placement advisement is also available.
Set up as an accredited career trade school, Los Angeles Recording School requires a rigorous time commitment of 36 hours per week for about six months. Expect to pay about $25,000 to complete the program, not including equipment and fees.
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Student Reviews
Located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, CA, the Los Angeles Recording School is a subsidiary of Los Angeles Film School, offering a 28-week intensive certificate program in Recording Arts. Students can opt to concentrate on Digital Recording, Music Production or Audio Postproduction for Film/Television. The campus is a combination of classrooms, labs and studios, with [...]
Review by August A.
August 3, 2012 3At LA Recording School my expectations were high, I found some of the staff to be lacking in their ability to teach, although my goal was to get a foot in the door in Los Angeles and parlay the additional education into a job and I was able to do that after time.
I had a successful internship out of school and made connections but really I started at the bottom, was a runner at several post production studios, eventually getting hired back to the studio I interned for and brought into the motion picture editors guild by them, I have been working for them for over 7 years and have moved my way up through the ranks within the union. I am currently a recordist at Walt Disney Studios..
I think I may have wasted time at school, thus wasting money. In these short term programs every minute of class is important, I wish I was more focused then to take advantage of the time I was given.
Debt Accrued: $5,001 - $10,000
Found work after graduation? No
Review by Chardae P.
July 16, 2012 3.8I attended The Los Angeles Recording School in Hollywood California, graduating in late 2011. Not only was it in Hollywood, it was in the heart of the city. I was no stranger to the city as I lived thirty minutes away in the South Central area of Los Angeles. I use to pass the school every time I visited Hollywood never knowing that it awaited my goals and dreams.
I can say I met my expectations in my schooling. But I would always love to learn more about my craft. Sometimes I have thoughts about furthering my education in the arts but as of now those are just thoughts. Right now I’m in the stages of building my own studio outside my home. I’ve been looking at rooms to rent. My current studio is in my living room. It’s okay for my mixing and mastering as of now but there is a curfew on how loud I can play my music in my apartments. I need a home away for home and that would be my domain, my pride rock, my STUDIO. Where I make all my dreams come true and I do believe I will succeed.
Since graduation it’s been hard just finding work period. I have interned at some low budget studios as a result of nothing. So as of now I have my own few clients that I deal with. With confidence that my clientele will grow I am still in search of a bigger dream.
My school was an amazing place to study if you want to be an engineer. The equipment that the school has to offer is breath taking or at least it was to me. They are equipped with all the Consoles, gear and instruments that are going to be in the studios. Matter of fact they have their own studio in the school you can book out. The teachers are great, well most of them. The schedule is set up with a four-hour lecture followed by a four-hour lab now how cool is that?
I would love to do it all again. Sometimes I still dream about school and all the fun I had. Kind of weird huh? But I do truly miss it. I never had an experience like it. Everything I learned, the amazing hands on equipment and all the great people I have met there. I also encountered a new craft that I didn’t know I had which was postproduction. It has opened my mind to things I didn’t know I could do. I have been making my own videos while I was in school and still till now. The opportunity of me being able to go to the school was a blessing. Now it’s time for me to take my knowledge and skills I’ve learned and put it to work. It’s time I’ve been waiting for this moment.
I would deeply recommend others to follow their dream and goals. If you have a passion in music or film go for it. First let me tell you, go schedule a tour and if that doesn’t grab your attend, if it isn’t everything you dreamed of, if you don’t feel that this is home and where you should be then its not for you. Don’t limit yourself to only one though, check out a couple schools and see which one fits you best. That’s what I did and I wouldn’t lie to when I say it was worth it.
Debt Accrued: $25,001 - $50,000
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by Myesha O.
July 14, 2012 4I attended The Los Angeles Recording School and I majored in Audio Engineering for film and music. I actually just graduated December 2011. I am also currently trying to enroll in Full Sail University for Music Business courses.
The school itself was amazing! I learned so much but for thirty thousand dollars I wouldn’t expect anything less. Everything was a crash course since every 4 weeks the course changed and you have to be able to keep up. It’s very much like sink or swim there and a lot of people sink!
Since graduation I have had a few gigs here and there, working on documentaries as an assistant editor, working at independent companies, etc. But mostly my time is filled with looking for a job that is in my field and preferably one that pays. Which is the hardest thing to do in the music industry. I will say my school was very informative on how to act and what to know about studio or music jobs but not so much on how to go about getting the job.
I would definitely recommend my school to people who are serious about music and film but I would also warn them how hard the school is and how much work it takes. Most of the time that meant little to no sleep. I have been plenty of days on 10 minutes of sleep on class breaks. This school is not for the faint of heart.
Debt Accrued: $10,001 - $25,000
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by Justin S.
July 13, 2012 3.8I attended the Los Angeles Recording School (LARS) and graduated Winter ‘10.
Since graduating I have had the pleasure of working with mixer Michael Patterson. He has an amazing track record with most recent gigs as mixing “The Social Network” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” of which I had the pleasure of working on.
I don’t recommend anyone to do anything they don’t already think of on their own, especially this line of work. It takes a certain amount of militance to deal with the level of asshole, incompetence and self indulgence that can be encountered. Most people look at what I do and laugh because they do not see it as a real job, that our hours of work are leisurely induced with a minimal amount of work and forethought. I laugh at them. If we compared clock sheets, which where I work now we do not use, their hours would be shameful to mine and my wage shameful in comparison to theirs (meaning I get paid terribly).
I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. I’m here to change the world not control it. I’m here to stimulate the world aurally in the best way possible. As humans, with the ability to hear, we never go a second without perceiving sound, even in sleep. When you hear a loud noise while you are sleeping you jolt and wake up. It’s not that your picked up that little bit of sound it’s that that sound at that particular point was loud enough to trigger your conscious part of your brain thus causing you to wake up.
Debt Accrued: $25,001 - $50,000
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by Sean R.
July 9, 2012 5I am a graduate of the Los Angeles Recording School; Recording Engineer program. I really thought it exceeded my expectations because there were Grammy and Emmy nominated engineers and producers who were instructors. They completely shared their knowledge if you were willing to listen. After I graduated, I opened my own recording studio in Temecula, Ca. LARS prepared me for being able to know what equipment I needed and gave me many people to contact. Not only that, they have hired me back at the film school as a consultant.
I would absolutely recommend the school. I have actually recommended many people to attend. It is not a scam, it is really a great program. I would advise students to go to LARS or some other reputable school. I like LARS because there are real instructors in the industry and the film school has serious accolades. Honestly, I am living proof.
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by Everett R.
June 26, 2012 4I attended the LOS ANGELES RECORDING SCHOOL but did not graduate. It was great, the best ever. I found tons of work in Los Angeles since dropping out, but since moving to the East Coast, not so much. I recently gave a co-worker this advice…focus on their internship program as if you were looking for a job ‘cause the process is the same.
Debt Accrued: $25,001 - $50,000
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by Mike X.
June 7, 2012 1In 2006, I decided to pursue a career in audio engineering. I had been mixing records for six years up until that point, and I wanted my music to go to the next level, I wanted my records to sound dope. And I figured, hey, why not start a career in it. I can make my music sound good, I can get paid to do it. I did my research, and I figured I’d go to the LA Recording School. I thought it was the best choice at the time. Packed my bags, went to the LA Recording School in ’06, graduated in 2007. Took on a gang of debt, a gang of debt. Tuition was 24K, I had to take out a loan for an apartment in North Hollywood and rent was like $1450 a month.
You can imagine, it was a pretty big loan. It didn’t meet my expectations, not at all. It was nothing like I thought it’d be, nothing like they sold it to me. They teach you the basics, the bare minimum basics of mixing and ‘What is a microphone?’ ‘What is MIDI?’ Stuff like that. They basically teach you signal flow. I got most of my knowledge and I learned more by chopping it up with my instructors and picking their brain, and actually sitting in on studio sessions with their clients after hours, after school hours and just being a fly on the wall and looking over their shoulder. Nothing from the school itself. I got certified by AVID as a Pro Tools Operator in Music and Post Production, so that’s definitely a positive.
Since graduating, I really didn’t find work. I didn’t really get help from career counseling, the career advisers. They sent out an email with a job list, about 15 jobs on the list. But half of them are internships and they send it to every graduating class. I graduate in ’07 and they have graduating classes every month, every month. So every month since ’07, it’s been a graduating class. They send out the same job list. It’s not really a good look. These guys mixing records are gonna mix records until the day they die. These old heads are gonna be mixing records until they’re 90 years old, they’re gonna be mixing Rihanna’s grandkid’s records. They’re not giving up that chair.
I wouldn’t recommend music school to anybody. I say, man, save your money. Intern somewhere. Go be a fly on the wall of the studio somewhere, get your hands dirty. Use that money to buy your own gear, experiment. I wouldn’t do it all over again, I would’ve stayed in Virginia or moved to Atlanta, LA, New York or something. Just kept working. I was working full time and going to school part time. I was just working, just grind like that. Kept working on my music and working on original stuff and just kept pushing the envelope and learned through experience. Instead of trying to learn the dark art of mixing and blue magic. That stuff don’t exist, man. That stuff is something you learn through experience in chopping it up with people that have done it, not through a school.
Debt Accrued: $25,001 - $50,000
Found work after graduation? No
Review by Robert R.
January 19, 2012 2.5I went to L.A. Recording Workshop in North Hollywood but now its in Hollywood and its called the L.A. Recording School.. Back when i went it was not an accredited school so i did 6 month Certificate Program.
It didnt really meet my expectations as far as learning everything about recording but i learned enough to get a job at studio and learn much more doing it hands on.
I Have been very fortunate since graduating from school. I have had plenty of work, have worked with a lot of great and talented people. I was actually able to accomplish and get my dream job.
I would recommend these schools. I believe it makes it easier for you to get your foot in the door.
It has changed my life completely. Although it took alot of work from me to make it happen, but it all started from me going school.
Debt Accrued: $5,001 - $10,000
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by Won C.
January 18, 2012 2.8At first, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into in the first place. After going through a few classes, I quickly learned that the curriculum was easy enough so that students would have to be learning impaired to not pass a course (or completely negligent).
I would advise those considering Los Angeles Recording School to consider all alternatives first, and then make a decision to make the financial commitment (although, you do have the opportunity to meet people you will work with in the future and build relationships based on that).
Debt Accrued: $10,001 - $25,000
Review by James C
July 13, 2011 1I paid $10,000 for 6 months. What I got was an outdated laptop and programs that weren’t really made to go with an Apple Mac PowerBook. They taught he how to use Cubase on a Mac when Logic Pro is actually made to go together with a Mac. After I brought this up, they decided to change the program to teach Logic a year later. So, basically, the whole time the teacher taught out of an instruction manual. A lot of the times he was on his cell phone/texting someone and not as engaged as you would expect for a music teacher. He offered some advice on programming, sequencing, mixing, and mastering, but it wasn’t worth $10,000 and I could have done better on my own.
The last semester, I was the only student left in the class and it didn’t seem like the teacher cared although I did get so individual attention. I didn’t even get a certificate. The class after had to demand that they be printed out certificates.
I’m a DJ so I had a lot of connections already. I use the same connections to get jobs. I did meet someone there that I have worked with throughout the year, but he was smart, he took a few private lessons instead of the whole $10,000 course. I met him after I went to school there, when I dropped in to say hello. Long story, short, you don’t have to go to audio school to learn how to become a producer or audio technician. Go on YouTube and read the instruction manuals.
Review by James H.
December 10, 2010 4Either you’ve got it, or you don’t. This school separates the men from the boys… the professionals from the bedroom producers. To cut through all the whining and the hyping, the truth is that if you’re cut out for the business, this is the school for you. If not, then this is the school for you to waste your money on and write a bad review because you were lazy and got burnt out, expecting some pipe dream. If you’ve got “it” (and don’t kid yourself) then this is a great place to start. The networking and opportunity is there, just don’t expect it to fall in your lap.
Review by Jacob A.
December 10, 2010 3Decent school, no help with job placement I attended this school back in 2004-2005. I loved the program, and the people there for the most part. I however received no help at all when it came to finding a job. Granted, the recording industry was starting to take a hit at this time, they were not even able to find me an internship. I worked one night at a decent studio and that was it. I was left to hustle my own internship, via adds on myspace and craigslist asking for someone that would be willing to help me out. I stayed around in LA for a couple more years, asking every month or so for leads or anything, I got nothing and eventually they just stopped calling me back. As for the school itself, I learned a lot, but I’ve never got to use, and if I got behind a board right now I doubt that I could do much… I got a nice student loan payment out of it though.
Review by Tiffany S.
August 27, 2010 2.3I am interested in where those that have graduated are working because I graduated from this school and wasn’t able to find a job in the field. I loved the school, but the job placement services didn’t help me.
Review by Wyatt B.
March 23, 2010 2.5The education I’m getting is worth the money. I did recieve finacial aid, help but did not pay for my full living out of town expenses. I have learned a lot from LARS. I would like to futher my career with LAFS. I worry about graduating with a lot of bills.