Hello friends!

Meff here! You may know me from my work as a drag guitar-dandy (Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys), Co-Host and Force Captain (Hey, Adora: A Queer She-Ra podcast), or one of the other weird, wonderful places we have crossed paths and made art and music and magic and all manner of chaos.

As some of you may know, I’ve had all manner of big damn life changes in the past few years, and I’ve spent some time trying to figure out what the next step of my adventure looks like. I’ve been doing quite a bit of audio production recently - both with my podcast and for smaller, personal projects, and I’ve been loving it. I feel like I've found a really wonderful niche for me. It’s a wonderful mix of creativity, technology, collaboration, and fussy hyper-focus that works really well for my weird brain. Lucky for me, I was accepted to a program where I can learn the ins and outs of professional audio production.

Unlucky for me, I got accepted at the last minute, and I need help paying for the class, the course book, and a new set of headphones.

I’m not exactly flush with cash at the moment, and the timeline to pay for the first session is pretty tight. I missed the deadlines for many of the available scholarships, and while I am actively pursuing other grants and scholarship options, I need to raise the money to secure my spot in the program.

I’m looking to raise $2,400 for the first session, with a stretch goal of $7,200 for the whole program. Every single dollar raised will go towards tuition, materials, and fees associated with the program. I have listed all of the expenses below, as well as information about the program for full transparency.

This would be a genuine life-changing experience for me. I’ve been looking for a new way to rededicate my life to music, art, and technology, and this seems like the perfect way for me to do that. One of the things that drives me is making art with other people, and this will enable me to do more of that.

I’m ready for the next adventure and would love a bit of help to get there.

THE COURSE

University of Washington Audio Production Techniques Certificate Program

In this three-course certificate program, you’ll explore the technical principles and creative skills required to complete professional sound projects. We’ll study the basics of editing, mixing, storage media, and the mastering process. You’ll get experience with acoustics, microphones, and analog and digital recording, and you'll apply your knowledge to create a pro-quality audio project for music or film. 

THE EXPENSES

COURSE COSTS:

Cost per quarter: $2,045 + $55 registration fee

(also available at https://bit.ly/udubmeff)

TEXTBOOK:

Modern Recording Techniques, 9th Edition -

$64.95

(https://bit.ly/udubmeffbook)

HEADPHONES:

Sony MDR-7506 Closed-Back Professional Headphones -

$99.99

(https://bit.ly/udubmeffhp)

GOFUNDME FEE:

2.9% + .30 per transaction

ADDITIONAL EXPENSES:

Shipping fees for materials, additional college fees, and other weird fees that always come up.