SAE / Miami

At a Glance
Name: SAE/Miami Contact: Chris Davie, director Major Courses of Study: Audio Engineering Degree Offered: Diploma program Accreditation: Florida State Board of Non-Public Career Education Main Technology Platforms: SSL, Neve, Sony Oxford and other analog and digital consoles; Pro Tools; other major technology systems Tuition: $13,800 per year for nine-month, 900-contact hour program Financial Assistance: Sallie Mae (SLM), school-based financing available.

SAE/Miami opened its art deco-esque doors in March 2002, the third U.S. location for SAE’s global network of media educational facilities and its 34th school worldwide.

The SAE/Miami location reflects both the nature and the needs of the burgeoning South Florida music recording landscape. The 14,000-square-foot facility offers students 22 studios, control rooms and labs equipped with a wide array of technology platforms designed to address the particular music genres in the region, including Latino and dance music. The curriculum also provides a firm foundation in both basic and advanced recording, mixing and editing techniques common to all music applications.

A key element of SAE’s success as a business, and its effectiveness as a teaching institution, has been its skillful tailoring of a program to local and regional markets. In Miami, the learning emphasis is placed on digital recording techniques and formats, most notably knowledge in every step of digital music production, including the creation of loops, waveform editing and virtual mixing. In addition, they learn the basics of music recording and production on the most widely used technology platforms in the industry, including SSL E Series consoles and the world’s largest Sony Oxford digital console.

“Miami is becoming the center of digital music production in the U.S.,” states Mark Martin, SAE’s director of North American marketing and expansion. “We have adapted SAE’s core Audio Engineer curricula to take full advantage of what Miami has to offer in this regard. The result is an audio engineering graduate who can work comfortably and be familiar with all of the approaches to hard disk-based recording, as well as handle even the most complex of large recording sessions.”

The Audio Engineer program offered at SAE/Miami provides necessary skills for today’s successful audio engineer, including the technical and creative aspects of the recording process, along with the peculiarities that arise in complex recording projects. Students also learn about career management and contracts, as well as financial issues related to the music business. And, each student receives intensive and comprehensive instruction from a faculty with one of the lowest student-to-teacher ratios in the industry.

In addition, the Audio Engineer program imparts other audio-related skills, including techniques and technologies found in sound reinforcement systems and staging operations.

“Every SAE location takes the school’s proven core curricula and adapts it to each new region,” explains Chris Davie, SAE’s director of Miami. “Miami is a perfect illustration of this approach. As a result, SAE students are extremely well-rounded, and this contributes greatly to SAE’s exceptionally high rate of post-graduate placement.”

Michael Cronin of Michael Cronin Acoustic Construction has constructed some of the world’s most prestigious studios, including Masterfonics, Ocean Way Nashville, Bop Studios in Africa and Mutt Lange’s private studio in Switzerland. Cronin was also the logistical mastermind behind SAE’s Miami facility and specified at world-class studio level, with features such as $40,000 worth of custom acoustic doors from Acoustic Systems. The SAE/North Miami Beach campus is a convenient commute for students from Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Tom Misner: “I chose Miami due to the increasing demand for qualified, correctly trained personnel to sustain Latin music’s ever-expanding market share. Miami and its culture play an important role in that market. Our goal is to support Miami’s growing music industry by providing capable, dedicated and educated individuals.” •