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anonymous 30 August 2003

ok I'm just a kid (16)
but i reaaaaaaally love recording
i have my little pro tools 002 setup and I'm really looking forward to becoming much more educated after high school(go to garageband.com and search for "beauty is fading" if you wanna hear my stuff id love it!)

anywaaaaaays

i was was wonder. does everyone here pump in all that money just to have a "prject studio" in thier basement where they just tinker around? or do you guess agressivly try to make money and "make it" in the buisses? or is this request far to unrealistic for "average peoples".

well anyways if you can just just give me some exprienced views and advice on "the recording buissnes" thatd be great.

I'm really intereste as to what you guys think.

-chris

Comments

anonymous Sat, 08/30/2003 - 20:49

Dedication is the name of the game.

I remember a long, long time ago, my band following a cat on stage at Winterland in S.F. He persevered, and went on to become Huey Lewis. I "made something of myself" and became a computer engineer.

At age 16, there is nowhere but Up. Sky's the limit. Go for it.

jdsdj98 Sat, 08/30/2003 - 22:15

I've said this here many times before:

Don't get caught wearing music blinders if you're thinking about audio as a career.

I majored in music with full intentions of engineering in some big fancy schmancy studio somewhere, anywhere. I finished school just as this whole DAW revolution hit and made it possible for guys like you to bypass the mid-sized studio and take the money you'd spend there and buy your own home studio setup which would give you passable, not nececssarily comparable, but passable results. (man, that was a long sentence) If you want to go big and try to make it into one of the big places, by all means go for it. I've chosen not to attempt that for lifestyle reasons, but it might be the route for you.

I really think mid-size project studios are being squeezed out of the market now by the affordability of gear/equipment. Just look at the bang for your buck with your 002. So be very cautious if that's the route you're thinking of.

Now, all that just to say there's TONS of other audio work out there that some music oriented folks aren't willing to do, and if you'll open your options to that work, you'll be fine. I work in an A/V production house doing audio production and duplication for corporate clients. Lots of voiceover, voiceover with music, voiceover for video, audio for webcasts, occasionally a solo acoustic musician. And then on evenings and weekends I freelance in pro and college sports for TV and in game entertainment, and for concerts. Just worked on a video shoot for a DVD by a well known band. That's all really fun stuff that's way outside the box of what you're thinking about when you think "recording studio," but I find it all extremely rewarding and tons of fun. I also have a modest home setup that I use to record music on location whenever people approach me with projects, which I really enjoy, and that's the primary reason I hang out here.

I'm just saying to take those music blinders off if you're thinking about a career in audio. There's lots of work out there if you'll think outside the box.

Best of luck. I love what I do, and at the end of the day, everyone needs to be able to say that.

anonymous Sun, 08/31/2003 - 16:40

ya i really understand about broadening you options.
im gonna be working at my grandparents tv studio/station and learning the audio there. im not fixated on any dream positions. i really love it all.but where would one of you sugest goin for schooling?
i have close friends in nashville, so i think ill go there after high school, maaaaaaaybee go to the miek curb school. i don tknow. thats pretty pricey. but i also want to make practical experience a strong educational factor aswell.
anyways thanks for your input!
-chris

sdevino Sun, 08/31/2003 - 19:32

Great advice about being willing to diversify.

I guess I would also suggest you think about going to engineering school instead of studying music. And I don't mean full sail or one of those places I mean go become a BSEE or computer science major. LEarn how to actually engineer anything.

Then play music and study music theory on the side. And continue to do recording on your own.

The advantage of this path is you will be very employable as a EE or as an audio engineer. IT is very very very hard to find good well rounded engineers that can operate, calibrate, configure and fix the gear they use. It is also very very very hard to find engineers that are musically talented.

As a full time operator of a small commercial studio I need engineers who are well rounded, self motivated and talented.

Good Luck and keep on learning!

Steve

jdsdj98 Sun, 08/31/2003 - 21:36

Great advice, Steve. That's one thing that now, with real world experience and loads of hindsight, I'm kicking myself for not having done. While I feel great about my experience and all that I've learned, I'm always confronted with just how much I don't know. Learning one thing reveals two things that I don't know. I have a vague, undefined plan of taking some EE classes at a community college somewhere along the way so that I've got more fundamentals on that level, and I think that anyone considering a career as an audio ENGINEER should prioritize that in their training as well.

realdynamix Sun, 08/31/2003 - 22:31

Originally posted by thevessels:
im gonna be working at my grandparents tv studio/station and learning the audio there

:) Chris, I don't know what your grandparents have for a system, but I can promise that you will gain lot's of experience working around their station.

You will learn systems flow, control, discipline, because the show must go on. It will teach you how to troubleshoot faster, and what the ins and outs of devices do and what the effect is and why.

It will teach you dynamic processing, signal preservation, and routing, and a bunch more including working with others on the same mission. Commit yourself to some of that and you won't be sorry.

--Rick

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