The old fashioned way into the alluring world of sound engineering, back in the days of vinyl records, was to persuade someone at a recording studio to let you make the tea, and then, with luck, progress to being a tape operator.

That was how Gavin Attard, 30, now manager of the highly impressive world headquarters of the School of Audio Engineering got into the business 14 years ago.

He climbed the ladder at Farmhouse Studios in his native Malta, before becoming manager of SAE’s school in Liverpool — and from there to Oxford, where SAE established itself two years ago.

He said: “Of course, everyone dreams of making it big, and some do.”

Mr Attard explained that his dreams had come true when he made it big in a small pond — Malta — where he was involved with a single that reached number two in the country’s charts.

He added: “I always tell prospective students and parents that we are not in the business of selling dreams, but that taking a course here will almost certainly enable you to earn a living.

“SAE is well respected in the industry and our courses are recognised internationally.”

Unsurprising, since SAE has more than 50 institutes worldwide, of which four are in the UK at Oxford, Glasgow, Liverpool and London.

To someone like me — who can scarcely tell if one note is higher than another — a noise is simply a noise. But from the early days of sound engineering, I gather a whole new field of digital media has evolved: film production, web design, game development, digital journalism — to name but a few.

SAE originated in Australia in 1976. It is the brainchild of Dr Tom Misner, one of those rare beings who saw the bandwagon before others — and rode the sound wave into the digital world of today.

But, despite the wizardry apparent everywhere at the Littlewood institute, teaching methods remain traditional, with a lot of one-to-one tuition. And this is no accident.

In this year’s prospectus Dr Misner writes: “It is very important to me that SAE maintains a practical hands-on approach to teaching because this will empower our students to be best in their field.”

He added: “For the first 15 years I was teaching. Since then I have watched countless students graduate and find great success in the industry.”

SAE is a private college operating as a not-for-profit organisation and offering diploma and degree courses — with the UK degrees offered in conjunction with Middlesex University. The one-year diploma course costs £9,000, and the two-year degree another £9,000.

At present the beautiful Oxford Institute, set in its own lovely gardens, has only 70 students. And, to my untutored eye, the fee seemed more than reasonable, particularly as I was dazzled by the sight of a succession of music consoles worth, I was told, hundreds of thousands of pounds. And the deal appears particularly good right now, as a reduction of £1,500 is on offer.

All the same, it seems a lot of money to pay out. Surely the fee means that this is a rich kids’ school?

Mr Attard looked a little disconcerted but countered: “We have come a long way from the days of finding a job as a tea boy, but you know even then you needed to be able to support yourself and so on. Not cheap.”

Perhaps he is right. Perhaps this is the way of the world. After all, SAE must be doing something right simply to have attained the size that it has. And some of its former alumni are impressive too: former SAE student Charl Potter, for instance, is web editor of the Financial Times; and Guy Gustav is the engineer for Groove Armada and The View, and has recorded some of the biggest names in the UK including NME award winners The Gossip.

The international nature of this constantly evolving digital technology is reflected in the student intake at Littlemore Park, where approximately 45 per cent are foreigners. And although most sound engineers are male, girls are keen to join the film-making courses.

Of course, there is a good sound engineering school at Oxford Brookes, so why should anyone come to SAE instead of there?

Mr Attard took the question well and replied diplomatically: “I cannot comment on Brookes, but our courses are highly practical compared to many other universities, and we offer a lot of one-to-one tuition.”

Walking around the Institute with Mr Attard I quickly realised he was aware of sounds, and sound qualities, in different rooms and studios, that I could not even hear.

What sort of person, I wondered, was he looking for? Someone who could play the lovely Steinway grand piano we found, oozing good quality from every grain of its wood, in one quiet room?

He said: “Well no. You need not be particularly musical, but you need to be able to separate out sounds and mix them.”

He implied that you needed to be able almost to see sounds, like colours or like tastes in a good dish. The penny dropped, and I understood what he was getting at, when we entered another quiet space containing the UK’s largest greenscreen, used for separating out colours in film-making. So that, in a nutshell, is where sound and sight interface.

Mr Attard explained that the whole evolution of this area of study was to do with “media convergence.”

Perhaps there would still be hope for a philistine such as myself at this school.

But then I remembered my trip to Vienna to learn how to waltz.

“Anyone can do it”, said the girl allotted the task of teaching me.

Half-an-hour later, rubbing her shins, she retracted: “Well, perhaps not anybody.”