I work at a studio as an assistant engineer and I also apprentice with an audio technician for several studios throughout NYC/NJ doing wiring, minor repairs, tape machine calibration, and so on. So I've kinda seen it from all sides, in a way. I don't even know where to start on this topic. I'm basically posting this to remind myself to gather my thoughts and post in greater detail later!
I'm totally exhausted so I'm just skimming, but here's something that popped into my head right away though, and it's from the perspective of someone who is just starting to bring sessions to the studio as an assistant-turned-engineer. It was a long climb and it's far from over, nor do I aspire to make engineering my living, but it's interesting stuff regardless, and it beats a desk job.
I know you're more in the production vein of things, OP, but maybe others on here can relate.
Anyway. If you are hoping to intern at a studio and work your way up to being an engineer, be sure that you're aware of your limits as far as your knowledge and experience. I'm generally pretty humble and if anything, I tend to think less of my abilities than others on occasion, but even I've had some rough spots where I've come off as knowing more than I do. It's not because I'm full of myself, but because I didn't realize I was wrong and didn't think to ask questions...I got caught up in doing things my way because in my eyes, if it gets done, what's the problem? However, there have been many times where it's screwed me to think this way; I've gotten yelled at and made mistakes, and it sucks.
In other words, you should never assume that the way you learned how to do something, is the way someone else wants it done...when it comes to studios, as much as there is sort of a "system" of doing things, especially nowadays, it's always gonna be a bit different depending on where you're working and who you're working for. Even down to simple things like wrapping cables, recall sheets, cleaning the patchbay, etc. Unfortunately, not everyone you work for is going to understand that if you just arbitrarily tell someone to patch something or clean something or whatever, you might get a few variations as to how it's done...it's awkward to deal with this, and if you work for good people, it'll be easier.
But more importantly, I think a potential problem in studios nowadays, is people coming out of audio or audio engineering schools knowing all the Pro Tools shortcuts, and thinking that they are entitled to the hot seat right away. Furthermore, a lot of these audio schools are preparing students for jobs that are, sadly, dying out...and finally, they are flooding the market...too many wanna-be engineers and not enough studios to go around. I'm not trying to sound cynical and I think it's great that you're pursuing a formal education with this stuff...it beats reading about it all day on the Internet and then thinking you're an expert, which seems to be the way people educate themselves these days...
As far as what's going RIGHT in regards to protocol/hierarchy within the studios, I am glad that there are studios around who still play fair ball when it comes to internships and don't just exploit people. They are hard to find, but they do exist. Also, I think it's great that people are into analog/vintage gear. There's definitely a certain generation who had their share of tape and then were happy to have Pro Tools come along, but as someone who hardly gets a chance to work with tape apart from aligning the machines, I really enjoy it. Finally, I was talking to one of my engineer friends at the studio last night and he pointed out that one of the best things about digital technology is to be able to use it as a means to completely, accurately capture your analog experience. In other words, if you track to tape and you come back to that tape in a few years, it's gonna sound different because over time, you'll lose the sort of "color" of that tape, if that makes sense. However, if you track to tape and then print it back to Pro Tools, as long as you stay on top of all their upgrades and any potential changes in their file management system, you'll be able to open that session in a few years and hear it exactly as it was when you first recorded it. He said it better than me, I'm just paraphrasing, but it was sort of a paradigm shift for me because I used to be like, "**** digital! blah blah blah" and now I'm realizing that it does have its advantages.
Not to mention, it's important to adapt well to all the changes in this business. Anyway, I could/should write a novel....that's all I can come up with right now...by the way, if anyone in New York City is interested in checking out the studio I work at, you can have a look at the website at
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