[glenlata]

well i'll go ahead and give this a shot, not a career engineer, but i do it during all of my free time, which is whenever im not on my 9-5 sometimes i even forget to sleep but anyways, im sure the more experienced people will have better answers, also these questions have been answered in various other threads but what the hey.

1.you don't need any formal training although it would help you immensely its not required

2.i only know of 2 schools as in i know people that went to them, one is full sail and the other is berklee, although from what i know berklee is mostly for musicians, not sure on that one, but i'm sure there are others and i'm sure they are everywhere, well in most major cities probably.

3.not sure if you'd fine audio engineering in a trade school or a CC, at least not around where im at in tallahassee florida.

4.my friend that went to full sail said he was paying like 8-10k or something like that a year in tuitions.

5.cant answer this one as i have never worked for a company, and i dont think i would want to, i like freelance to much i hate having a boss.

6.this one is all over the place, some guys here do it for free, some guys charge 5-10 dollars and hour, while the 3 studios we have in town charge $75-150 an hour. it all depends on how much you value yourself and the kind of people you bring in.

7. this one depends on genre, IMO, generally you want a bigger city, preferably one rich in music and arts. I shy away from cities like atlanta and new york tho, there is a studio on every corner and in every house. and i can say that about both of them because i've been to both places.

8.i assume if you get hired onto a company they may have lvls, as a freelancer tho you are what you are, an audio engineer, and you general earn what your worth.

9. again IMO depends on genre, but in all cases being a perfectionist isn't a bad quality. Persistance, Honesty, integrity (that means no shortcuts cause they wont notice the difference). perseverance, being a audiophile doesn't hurt. but basically the usual, you do have to love music, and sometime see the good in the bad. attention to detail is also a must.

10. i'd say the outlook isn't to great what with every person in the world having a studio in there home, and charging and trying to get people into it. but if you can persevere all that and get good and make a name for yourself. alot of door start to open up. still in the stages of that, i have a small buzz in the hip hop community and have been working with a few up and comers lately, but still not where i want to be.

cant answer that last one cause i don't do this for a living, i take projects i like and i book when i feel like it.