Hi all. So my situation is this: I am an intern at a major studio in
LA. I have been an intern for about 10 months and I am slowly being
given more responsibilities as time goes on. I still don't make any
money, but I am given tasks such as normalling the console, rarely
patching cables, chopping up and fading PT files, fixing cables, rarely
setting up/breaking down mics + amps, doing recall sheets, etc.

I am becoming impatient, though, because I want to start doing some
serious assisting and get some credits under my belt. I don't have
enough experience yet and it just feels like time is ticking away as i
slave away for no guarantees. it seems like assisting at this studio
is still a long way off for me and there are a couple people ahead of
me in the waiting line, including another intern. my main fear is that
i'll be an intern for another year before i realize that its going
nowhere and then i'll be left without anything, because as far as i
understand, in order to get pay in this field, you have to have some
good credits or at least a topnotch demo of the work you've done. I am
not doing well financially these days and my home recording setup is
pretty shoddy. i don't have the means right now to spend money on my
own setup. I am pretty much at the mercy of the studio. So I am
brainstorming on ways to network with producers/engineers so that I can
get them into this studio for a discount on the condition that i assist
for them. this seems like the best thing i can do right now. another
thing i can do is make more of an effort to get out to clubs and
perform the songs I write and sell my cds on the chance that another
band would pick up the disc, like my stuff, and would want me to
produce or engineer them. I am also looking for a quiet place to do
live sound for, like a small bar, since that would be another place to
meet bands that i could produce/engineer in the future. I've tried
recording people in my place and it just doesn't work. I don't have
the space or the equipment. Any insights into my condition? I'm sure
some of you have been here before. thanks...

Jake

wrote:
Hi all. So my situation is this: I am an intern at a major studio in
LA. I have been an intern for about 10 months and I am slowly being
given more responsibilities as time goes on. I still don't make any
money, but I am given tasks such as normalling the console, rarely
patching cables, chopping up and fading PT files, fixing cables, rarely
setting up/breaking down mics + amps, doing recall sheets, etc.

I am becoming impatient, though, because I want to start doing some
serious assisting and get some credits under my belt. I don't have
enough experience yet and it just feels like time is ticking away as i
slave away for no guarantees. it seems like assisting at this studio
is still a long way off for me and there are a couple people ahead of
me in the waiting line, including another intern. my main fear is that
i'll be an intern for another year before i realize that its going
nowhere and then i'll be left without anything, because as far as i
understand, in order to get pay in this field, you have to have some
good credits or at least a topnotch demo of the work you've done. I am
not doing well financially these days and my home recording setup is
pretty shoddy. i don't have the means right now to spend money on my
own setup. I am pretty much at the mercy of the studio. So I am
brainstorming on ways to network with producers/engineers so that I can
get them into this studio for a discount on the condition that i assist
for them. this seems like the best thing i can do right now. another
thing i can do is make more of an effort to get out to clubs and
perform the songs I write and sell my cds on the chance that another
band would pick up the disc, like my stuff, and would want me to
produce or engineer them. I am also looking for a quiet place to do
live sound for, like a small bar, since that would be another place to
meet bands that i could produce/engineer in the future. I've tried
recording people in my place and it just doesn't work. I don't have
the space or the equipment. Any insights into my condition? I'm sure
some of you have been here before. thanks...

Jake


Though you do not give your age, you sound young and impatient. Ten months may seem like a long
time, but it is nothing.

Questions to consider: have you sought to befriend any of the producers or engineers, I mean have
you offered to buy them a cup of coffee or lunch? More business is discussed over food or on the
golf links than you realise. The office is not always the place you want to talk about work.

Have you looked to smaller studios, assuming you are credentialled (gotten some sort of degree at a
recording engineering school), who may be looking to hire someone? Have you thought about switching,
gradually, to another facility?

Would you be willing to sit down with the studio head and talk about a time line to get into the
Assistant's chair? When you interviewed for your present position, did you ask about the time line
you could expect before this would happen for you? If you did and still agreed to work there, and
the time line is still not "complete", meaning that if they told you 18 months, and you're only at
10, you still have a way to go before their expected payback to you has transpired.

You're in LA, home of miriad studios. Having lived there myself, I know you could find something
that would satisfy your "need" to progress. That said, there's an old story about a guy coming to a
studio all gung ho and asking how soon it would be before they would be on the desk. The man
answered, six months. But if you want to get going sooner, never.

Okay, you've been waiting ten months and there's a couple of people in front of you. Business in LA
is slower than it used to be in the larger facilities and that means progress is slower.

You decide the following: a) transition (slowly) to another facility that may be able to get you
Assisting sooner; b) interview with smaller facilities that need to hire (and pay) someone with your
qualifications; c) move to another town with facilities (but only after contacting them about work
and interviewing for a job); caveat being that you shouldn't move unless you have a job; d) stay put
and wait out the other guys (if possible).

Other options are as follows: Hire into a touring band (or a local band or number of bands that play
out all the time) and run their sound, save your money and upgrade your recording gear, making it a
portable system for eventual "remote" session work at "their" place(s). Charge less and make them
rent the space to record in, which they'll pay for anyway at a regular facility.

Go to the movie industry and talk with their sound people.

You need to expand your vision as to what you really want. Sometimes it means doing stuff that at
first seems to have nothing to do with what your passion is. But if you remain focused, you will
find the way to satisfy and eventually embrace your passion full time.

I got off the road and went to work to pay off debt and set up a studio, get my band up and running
and all that goes with it. I did whatever I had to do to make money, all with the focused goal of
creating a good studio. I ran sound, I did session work as a player, I consulted, I worked a 9 to
5er, I repaired instruments, I taught classes, whatever was necessary to make my goal real and
achievable.

Now I stand on the verge of realisation of that goal. It took longer than I had planned, but life is
like that -- we do not always get the brass ring on the first go round, or the second, or the third.
But persistence and perseverence and dedication to improving your craft along the way will
ultimately get you the results you seek. You just need to be more patient and focused -- and willing
to look with a more broad based vision at *how* to accomplish your goal(s).

And it has been a most educational ride getting here; I'm better for the experience, I'm wiser for
the learning, and I'm more secure in my direction. These could not have happened without doing what
was necessary to make my dreams happen, to achieve my goals.

And, I have tons of things to write about as material for songs. There is no substitute for
experience(s).

--fletch

In article .com writes:

I have been an intern for about 10 months and I am slowly being
given more responsibilities as time goes on. I still don't make any
money, but I am given tasks such as normalling the console, rarely
patching cables, chopping up and fading PT files, fixing cables, rarely
setting up/breaking down mics + amps, doing recall sheets, etc.

That's all really good stuff. I'm glad to hear that this studio is
training their interns well.

I am becoming impatient, though, because I want to start doing some
serious assisting and get some credits under my belt. I don't have
enough experience yet and it just feels like time is ticking away as i
slave away for no guarantees.

Do you have enough familiarity with the studio and gear so that if
they let you loose, you could do a recording session? If so, why not
ask if you can work on your own during times when the studio isn't
booked? Chances are the studio will want to get a piece of the action,
but if you can bring a band in to a $185/hour studio for $50/hour and
take $10 or $15 for yourself for engineering during off-hours you'd
get in your practice, the studio could pay to keep the lights on, and
a band would get a break.

Another possibility is to see about getting a deal like that at
another studio, if the place you're working is too high-falootin'.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

What studio is it jake?

What studio is it jake?