Musicians Institute

At a Glance
Name: Musicians Institute Contact: Steve Lunn, director of admissions Major Courses of Study: Recording Artist (RA), Recording Institute of Technology (RIT); also a range of customized degree and certificate programs for guitar, bass, drums vocals and keyboards Degrees Offered: RA and RIT programs are intensive, six-month, full-time programs leading to a Certificate; Bachelor of Music degree (instrument or vocal studios only); Encore Program (customized non-certificate) Accreditation: National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) Main Technology Platforms: SSL and Neve consoles, Digital Performer 3, Pro Tools, Nuendo, Recycle, Reason Tuition: $10,000 (RIT); $8,000 (RA) Financial Assistance: For all programs except Encore. Title IV Federal financial aid program and alternative loans also available.

Musicians Institute has taken an organic approach to music and media education ever since the facility opened its doors in 1977. The result is a hands-on approach to music education as an effective alternative to the traditional, theory-based path to becoming a music professional, taught by a close-knit and dedicated group of artists, technologists, educators and music professionals.
While the curriculum is designed to accommodate a variety of individual student goals—the Institute offers three-month to four-year Bachelor of Music programs to students of guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and vocals—the school’s approach to teaching the recording arts and sciences is equally innovative and effective, with a unique two-pronged approach.

The Recording Institute of Technology (RIT) program is a six-month intensive course of study tailored to students who intend to pursue careers in the professional studio industry. Classes on microphone placement, recording techniques, editing, mixing and working in the studio environment offer a skill set that allows graduates to move easily into engineering careers.

RIT students will work in a million-dollar studio facility designed by the renowned studio bau:ton architects, and they have available to them the finest technology platforms, such as SSL and Neve automated consoles and analog and digital multitrack systems.

Musicians Institute’s intensive six-month Recording Artist (RA) program provides a unique approach that accurately reflects the state of the music business today. Using a combination of technologies and techniques found in most personal and project studios—programs like Reason, Recycle, Nuendo, along with Mackie mixers—RA students learn how to maximize session time and how to take control of recording their own music and career paths. RA students also benefit from practical classes in music business, songwriting and copyrights, and they are exposed to distribution and promotion strategies, including Website design.

The RIT and RA programs operate in parallel with Musicians Institute’s traditional music instruction, which offers up to a Bachelor’s degree in music, allowing students to take advantage of an eclectic range of educational offerings in several ways. For instance, RIT students can use the live music performance workshops, which take place every day in the Institute’s 500-seat theater and two 50-seat performance suites, to hone their abilities on tracking sessions; the live spaces are wired to Control Room A. RA students can also participate in these sessions, as well as in the Institute’s acclaimed and informal open-counseling sessions with staff instructors and visiting artists.
Musicians Institute offers other benefits, including a well-developed internship and placement program, which takes full advantage of the school’s location in the heart of Southern California’s studio industry.

“All of the programs at Musicians Institute, as well as the Institute itself, were designed to make the most of music and technology interacting with each other,” says Steve Lunn, the Institute’s director of admissions. “And, every graduate from any of our programs leaves with an education that is far more than the sum of those parts.” •