Audio Engineering & Production

Your Future in Audio Engineering is Calling

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Earn Your Diploma in Audio Engineering & Production
Program Highlights

Sound enriches our lives and our audio engineering production curriculum is your direct route to a career in the vibrant audio industry! As Western Canada’s foremost audio college, College for Arts and Technology offers two Audio programs to kickstart your career!

The 12 month Audio Engineering Fundamentals program offers you the opportunity to learn the essentials needed to master music production in our state-of-the-art recording studio. If you’re looking to really hone your skills even further, our in-depth, 18 month Audio Engineering & Production program offers applied theory and hands-on learning opportunities to truly launch your career in audio!

College for Arts and Technology’s 18 month diploma in Audio Engineering & Production is a masterful blend of foundational theory and applied techniques to get you the mix of abilities needed to thrive! Through hands-on classes taught in our dedicated audio classrooms or recording studios, you’ll learn the full spectrum of skills needed to thrive including:

Industry-Standard Software – Pro Tools & Ableton Live
Music Theory & Song Writing
Production, Sound Design & Track Creation
Practical Setup & Teardown of Live Sound Systems
Using Microphones to Record Live Artists & Instruments
Dialog, Music, & Effects for TV and Film
Stereo & Surround Mixing for both Music & Film with Proper Delivery Specs
Video Game Audio, including Middleware & Game Engine Software
Career Management, Including Self Marketing & Promotion

College for Arts and Technology’s 12-month Audio Engineering Fundamentals program focuses on the skills and techniques required to master the mixing board. In just 12 months, you’ll dive into this engaging industry, learning the fundamental skills to kickstart your career including:

Fundamental technical and theoretical skills in microphones and professional recording
Music theory including song trend analysis
Industry-standard software – Pro Tools and Ableton Live
Practical audio production skills including mixing and mastering
Song arrangement, production and track creation
Professional skills, work habits, and career management
Music for TV and film including post-production
Video game audio middleware Wwise

Ready to Learn Audio Engineering?

Our Grads Power the Arts and Tech Economy!

CAT’s creative and technical programs are directly connected to a creative sector that makes a $6 Billion contribution to the British Columbia economy every year. Graduates from our 2D and 3D animation, filmmaking, graphic design, audio engineering and other programs are among the over 120,000 skilled arts and tech workers employed provincially in this vibrant, constantly growing ‘creative economy’. Just in the past several years alone, CAT graduates were named in the credits for many high grossing films and musical scores, capturing numerous industry awards.

Start Your Audio Engineering Career
Make Music and Sound Come to Life

You’re looking for the best audio engineering school in Canada. Here’s what our program will do for you:

01

Industry Connections

Professional audio engineers as your Instructors and mentors.

02

Let’s Get You Working!

Well-rounded, focused curriculum to get you successfully working as quickly as possible.

03

Degree Pathway Options

Established pathway with University of Gloucestershire in England.

04

Top Tech

State-of-the-art technology, facilities and equipment in dedicated studio and post production classrooms.

Become an Audio Engineer
Where Our Award-Winning Alumni are Working

When you’re backed by exceptional curriculum and an education team focused on your success and individuality, the future of employment is bright. Here are just a few places where our Audio Engineering & Production Alumni have been thriving.

Connor Welsh

What I learned at CATO has allowed me to be in a position to capitalize on the opportunities that have come my way. I’ve had several unexpected opportunities arise and I was thankfully knowledgable enough to be able to take them, which may not have …

engineears.com/crw_connorwelsh

Lainie Dixon (Rasmussen)

Prior to my maternity leave, I was regularly editing a podcast. Additionally, I was contracted to a local special needs respite company to help migrate their new staff orientation to an online platform. Along with creating narrations for all the content, I would also create/film …

Teon Gibbs

I think the community I built at CATO was foundational for my career. I think the reality of art is that you have to have an ambitious mentality. I learnt that from CATO.

teongibbs.com

Eileen Purnell

I owe a lot of my success to the school, instructors, and staff. The knowledge they shared, along with the facilities available to apply and gain real world experience, helped in facilitating my mentorship with Post Modern Sound. During and after your education here at …

Ty Loewen

The Audio Engineering and Production course covered so much diverse content that it’s a great starting jumping off point for any job in the industry. In the short 6 years since I graduated I’ve worked as an AV Tech, Recording Engineer, Install Tech, and Production …

Alumni Feature

Experience the CAT Difference
Why the Best Choose Us

We understand that choosing a post-secondary school is a big decision that usually involves input from some of the most important people in your life. Tuition considerations, support after graduation and key industry connections – these are all part of choosing the best audio engineering and music production school for you.

Here are a few reasons why you’ll be happy you chose College for Arts and Technology:

Hands-on, employment-focused education.

Employment-focused programs delivering the soft skills you need for lasting career success and hands-on experience with the latest, industry-standard technology. Your career starts here!

Personalized support from start to finish.

Financial guidance? We’ve got you covered. Career advice after graduation? We wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re more than a student number to us. We create a personalized experience that you won’t get anywhere else.

More one-on-one time with your Instructors and mentors.

Small class sizes mean you get more facetime and critical feedback from your education team, to achieve real growth and success.

Quality you can fact-check.

College for Arts and Technology holds a full designation through Education Quality Assurance and the Private Training Institutions Regulatory Unit. You’ll only get the best at College for Arts and Technology.

Join the Program

Department Head
Chris Holmes

Chris Holmes started his career working alongside The Matrix, a production and songwriting team based in Los Angeles. Over the course of 4+ years, he sharpened his engineering and production skills while working with numerous A-List artists, including Katy Perry, Ricky Martin, Korn, Nickelback, Hot Hot Heat, Big Wreck, Ashley Tisdale, and many more. After relocating to Vancouver, Chris took over the position of Chief Engineer at Greenhouse Studios, where he worked with dozens of independent and major label artists. With over 20 plus years of experience, Chris is now an independent engineer and producer, dividing his time between Vancouver and Kelowna. Chris is excited to bring his knowledge and experience to the audio students at the College for Arts and Technology.

To learn more about the Audio Engineering Industry, you can listen to our PODCAST with Chris on our Soundcloud Stream.

Quarter Descriptions

Here’s How You’ll Build Your Audio Engineering Skills

Quarter 1

In this quarter, you will learn the fundamental technical, theoretical, and creative skills necessary to work in the audio industry. You will study the basics of music theory, microphones, and basic recording, as well as DAW functionality in industry standard software Pro Tools and Ableton Live. This knowledge will become the basis for the remainder of the program.

Quarter 2

In your second quarter, you will continue to learn intermediate microphone and recording techniques, by conducting your own recording sessions under supervision from your instructors. You will explore practical audio editing skills that are used for performance correction and enhancement, as well as advancing your ability to create simple song arrangements and productions. This quarter also branches out in the world of synthetic sound design and track creation.

Quarter 3

In your third quarter, you will develop your understanding of the professional skills, work habits, and attitudes expected by the commercial recording industry. This will include client interaction, working in teams, and delivering high quality work on a tight deadline. Live sound reinforcement is introduced, with practical setup and teardown of complete sound systems. The quarter rounds out with a focus on song arrangement and song writing within a DAW, including analysis of popular songs and song writing trends.

Quarter 4

In your fourth quarter, you will use various techniques learned in your previous quarters and apply them to more advanced topics such as Post Audio. Sound for TV and Film becomes a main component of this quarter, including ADR, sound design, and foley, as well as film scoring and music soundscape creation. This quarter also includes career management and music industry classes that help students understand the business side of making and marketing music. Through all of this, music creation and track production is still included and developed further.

Quarter 5 (18 Month Program Only)

In quarter five, you will continue to develop your practical skills related to the roles involved in film and TV post-production audio, including ADR, foley, sound design, as well as 5.1 mixing. Students will also learn about on set location audio and working with film crews and actors. Students will also explore more advanced audio topics, like mixing and mastering, and more advanced synth sound design.

Quarter 6 (18 Month Program Only)

In the final quarter, students use all the skills learned to fine tune their own portfolios, with a large final project. Advanced recording, mixing, and mastering classes will help the students to craft release-ready productions. Students are also mentored heavily in this quarter to help them find their unique selling point and help guide them on their career path.

I’m Ready to Build My Skills

I was always fascinated at how sound and music can heighten your perceptual experience. The Audio Engineering & Production instructors did an excellent job of preparing me for my career. I now live in Vancouver and record location dialogue for film and television productions.

Corey Sewell