Attn: Producers/Engineers Question

[Kroy]

I'm a bassist and guitarist of 10+ years and I've been teaching for almost two years. At present I don't have a playing gig that pays and have been considering sound engineering and production as an avenue to get a 'day job' that's still in my field. So I'd just like to open this up to any and all advice/words of wisdom of people who do or have done these things professionally.

Just some background info on me: I have 2 music degrees (B.A. and M.M.), a background in composition, started as a rock/blues musician, interested in everything from Bach to Pantera and all points between.

Right now I'm looking at a program in the area that offers some basic recording techniques and sound engineering stuff. It's a certification and not a degree (I don't need anymore of those) and it looks like it would take me about a year to complete.

[Snarf]

Day Job????????? Who the hell told you producing/engineering was a day job??

If you want to work in a studio, first you have to learn everything about Pro Tools, mics, signal flow, and some basic mixing techniques. You can get this at a school or whatever, and that actually is a big help nowadays, because most places won't even let you scrub the toilets without an education. And that's where you'll start, if you're lucky and they let you in the door: toilets, windows, trash emptying, getting coffee, basically being a gofer. Oh, and you'll be doing this for free, because there's a hundred thousand kids who will gladly do it for free, so you're competing with them. If you do a REALLY good job on the toilets and don't screw up coffee or food orders, and are a really excellent person to get along with, the engineer may grant you a job as an assistant engineer (at which point you'll start working on sessions where you'll get there an hour before, say 9 AM to zero the board and set up, and leaving when the session ends, figure about 2 AM). That's after 6-12 months of intern-style gofer stuff, working for free, and usually working around 12-14 per day or more. Going that path isn't a day job, it's 100% of your life, once you factor in the little sleep you'll be getting. The only people who can afford to make engineering their day job are mastering engineers like Bob Ludwig who gets tens of thousands per mix (a mastering mix taking only about 7 hours of work). And I'm assuming you're not Bob Ludwig.

There's other avenues to persue, of course, such as live sound for theaters, small clubs, etc. Or you could try to get into post. This is where a college may help you out more, if you make real good friends with some professors, do GREAT work, and use the resources of the school. But still, there will be a long period of slaving for nothing, working under someone that you want to impress so that they start paying you.

Day job? Uh, not so much.