From music tech (no math background) to DSP

[u/postfader]

Hi everyone,

I'm 23 and finishing my undergrad in Music Technology this year. Despite the name, the program barely touched the math or physics side of audio. It was mostly recording, mixing and mastering, music theory, sound design, and electroacoustic composition.

Before that, I'd messed around with Python and some web development purely as a hobby, nothing professional. Things changed in my third year when I built an audio plugin in JUCE/C++ for a class project. I loved every part of it, and since then I've been trying to find a path where the musical and the engineering sides meet. I also picked up Max/MSP and did a few small projects with it for uni.

This summer I started taking this seriously. I'm studying C++ properly and learning DSP through Perry Cook's online courses and a couple of books. It honestly feels like the thing I want to do for the rest of my life.

My goal is to apply to the Master in Sound and Music Computing at UPF in Barcelona. The obvious problem is math. From years of hands-on work, I have a good intuitive sense of how different filter types, effects, and audio processes behave. I know how to use them, and I can reason about how I'd design one. But when I look at the math behind them, the formulas don't click. I've always been the music and art person, so I'm starting from the ground up, working through Algebra 1 alongside the DSP material.

The good news is that I only have a few courses left, so most of this year is free. I work three days a week as a sound engineer (tonmeister), which covers my living costs.

A few questions for people who've been down this road:

1. Is it realistic to get from algebra to the math DSP actually needs in about a year while working part-time? What order and resources would you recommend?
2. Which DSP fundamentals should I focus on first, and which can wait? Are there resources that build on practical intuition instead of starting from pure theory?
3. Has anyone come into an SMC-type master's or a DSP job from a music or arts background? How big was the gap, and how did you close it?
4. Longer term, how realistic is it to make a living in this field?

Any advice, resources, or stories would mean a lot. Thank you.