How Do I Break Into Engineering?

[Rusrantaol.com]

Hello all,

I'm writing to anyone who can give me some advice on how to break into the record engineering field on a pro level. I've been recording my own and local music and have been involved in over 12 releases in and around the Birmingham, Alabama area. I have a lot of experience, talent and a huge passion for recording and music in general. I am a multi-instrumentalist and have played in numerous bands of all styles. I would consider myself extremely down to earth and totally ego free. I do not make my living from music but would like to change this.

My question is, how can I start working in this field? I'm willing to start at the bottom for little pay and long hours. I'm willing to do what it takes to make this happen, but I'm unclear wear to start. I've thought about the recording schools, or trying to get a internship at a local pro studio. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks, Rus

[Tiny G]

My advise would be: STOP NOW !!!!! RUN, RUN FAST, RUN HARD, JUST DON'T DO IT !!!!!!!!

 

OK, well that's what the engineer's said to me on my first day as an intern. There are 25 new dot com millionaires a day, be one of them.

 

If you are serious about engineering (not this, I play my own stuff and I want to learn how to record it) then find a studio and get in as an intern. School is great, but school won't get you a job as an engineer. School is a given, it's a given that you would already know everything about the studio that you could learn from a book, everyone knows that much, what's going to make you different? Attitude is everything. Be a problem solver. Be invisible. Be smarter than everyone else and still be able to get lunch. Good Luck. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

(Don't take this as a "school is a waste" answer, I've got a B.A. in Spanish and loved my school days. Just don't count on graduating from SAE or Full Sail and landing a job. In fact, I would recommend getting a degree in something else, not as a fall back but for a broader view of the world)

 

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Tiny G

[Guest]

I am pretty much in your situation - I'm in my last few weeks of recording school, and i'm interning/ asst engineering at a studio. I did small club live sound in college before deciding to do what I was spending all my free time doing as my "job".

 

I can't tell you much about breaking in, but I can tell you a bit about school. Audio Production school is a bit of a ripoff AND a very cool thing. It is getting more expensive, though you can get financial aid. It is stuff you probably know a lot about, and stuff you could learn on the job. At the same time, you meet people (your teachers) who work or at least have worked in the industry. If you impress them they look out for you and help you. This is the #1 way I think school will have helped me.

 

Bad -

- costs a lot

 

- not flexible (I had to take classes on history in my program despite the fact that I have a BA already from college)

 

- studio time! is limited - no matter what they tell you when you investigate which school to go to

 

- if you already have experience you may have to sit through some boring "I already know this" classes, or worse you may become annoying to your less knowledgeable classmates (not that they would annoy you http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif)

 

- time in school is time you could have spent working, and part time jobs and school suck, though you can do it

 

GOOD -

 

- teachers who know things, who help you understand how to work with others

 

- hands on experience - especially with all the software stuff you "need" to know. Man there are people listed in liner notes now as "Pro Tools Expert" !!

 

- access to equipment you can't afford, and that studio owners are reluctant to let you play with without supervision

 

- many studios only take interns if their interns are getting credit at a school - some kind of legal tax thing I think

 

- some schools have pretty good job placement credits (just make sure the jobs are of the variety you want.)

 

thats that FWIW.

 

Otherwise, I try to read the magazines, I went to AES this year for the first time (cool!), and if I'm making coffee at the studio I make the best coffee I can, I show up early, I ask questions AFTER the session, I carry heavy things, I call people back, I read manuals - (this is good - people are starting to ask me how to do things on equipment they own).

 

Good luck to you,

Julian

[Pro Jules]

1) how old are you?

 

2) do you need to be paid a 'living wage' (enough for rent food & transport) during your internship?

 

if the answers are

 

1) over 22

 

2) yes

 

then you may have trouble ever finding anything.

 

If you are young and live at home and are suported by parents , then you stand a chance of survival and employment as a studio intern.

 

IMHO

 

Jules

[Anderton]

A lot of success stories I know about fall under the "right place at the right time" category. You apply for a job when the flaky assistant engineer didn't show up, and the desperate management says "okay, you're hired." You sweep floors better than anyone else, solve a complex MIDI problem, and all of a sudden they like you. You toil away for years, endure crap from musicians with ego problems, deal with the jealousy from the senior engineer when he looked like an idiot because you solved a technical problem he couldn't handle...then one day, the engineer for a session has the flu, the other engineer is on vacation, and you end up doing the tracking...the band likes you, and by the time you've finished doing a rough, they actually like the mix and tell their producer they'd rather use you than the engineer they used previously...

 

The producer is reluctant, but thinks you're a decent person and remembers the time you saved his butt on a DAT transfer gone insane. Then the band's single becomes a hit, and people want to know "who engineered that?"

 

The secret about being in the right place at the right time is to be in as many places as possible in the hopes that lightning strikes! Maybe do a live mix for a local band from time to time...you get the idea.

 

You have to be persistent, willing to make very little money, and realize that your competition is fierce. Good luck.

 

n.p. Seven Dub, "Rock it Tonight"

[offramp]

How do you break into Engineering? Well, if you can get access to the Engineering deck, you could probably expend the red-shirted ensigns; that's why they're put on the ship. Next step would be to use some sort of cheesy from-behind neck chop on the guard outside the dilithium crystal chamber; do that, then you'll find yourself on the upper view deck over the engine control room...down the stairs, and you're there! (Scotty will probably be on the planet's surface somewhere, with the re-con party; depends on the script.)

 

sorry. couldn't resist.

[Guest]

Beware of school. It can be addictive. Once you learn about microphones you start thinking about filtering and then you begin to wonder about DSP and then GUI design and then it's all over with. There are so many facets to this industry now day that once you start learning you may never want to stop.