Bad interns

[dontfeartheringo]

Oddly, my experience with this is totally polarized:

Our studio has had a dozen or more STELLAR interns in the short time I've been there. One guy (Ben, who will be forever nicknamed "The Bentern") was so awesomekillerfantastic that he was given his own key to the studio and all the lock codes after two weeks. We kept asking to get him back. I was SO SAD to see him go. I hope he's reading this. Hi, Ben. Hope LA is ruling.

We've had two bad ones, one of which was so epically bad...

[Dude] broke every single rule on his first session. He took a guitar off the wall without asking, tuned it to a very rough approximation of an open chord and then happily (and atonally) strummed away while we were setting up for a session. He took a cell phone call and sat on the couch talking while we were tracking.

He cracked his gum.

He got up off the couch and took a seat on MY stool next to the console. He then offered several pieces of advice.

After the band left my partner (and the owner of the studio) said "Can I have a moment alone with [Dude]?"

SURE, I said, and stopped rolling cables. I walked into the tracking room, where I put on a pair of headphones, KNOWING that my partner always forgets to turn off the talkback mic. That day was no exception. I got to hear the whole thing, and it made Buddy Rich's bus look like Palm Beach.

That kid got a scorching that would have made Phil Spector throw his guns up in the air (like he just don't care). It was all delivered in a very calm, even tone, but it made MY toes curl with dread.

[Dude] was told on no uncertain terms exactly what he'd done, why that was wrong, what future expectations would be and that he had NO MORE chances to screw up because he'd run out of all of his strikes on the first day. Perhaps if he'd PAID ATTENTION in the intern orientation that his school runs, he would have known better, but alas.... somehow he managed to whiff his first day so mightily that he was being asked to come back the next day JUST SO WE COULD SEE HOW BAD HE'D FUCK THAT ONE UP.

Well, I never saw him again. I don't think [Dude] stayed in the program after that.

You don't have an obligation to suffer bad interns. No one does. If you communicated your expectations and they fail to meet them, well, see ya. There's too much expensive stuff lying around for guys like [Dude] to go throwing phantom power on the wrong mics.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

I walked into the tracking room, where I put on a pair of headphones, KNOWING that my partner always forgets to turn off the talkback mic.

so good.

[CurtZHP]

He cracked his gum.

I would have shot him for that alone.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

i will admit to occasionally cracking my gum whilst walking around town, because i am a dork and i enjoy hearing the reflections off buildings.

but in a control room, yeah, NO.

[Rakoro]

Oddly, my experience with this is totally polarized:

Our studio has had a dozen or more STELLAR interns in the short time I've been there. One guy (Ben, who will be forever nicknamed "The Bentern") was so awesomekillerfantastic that he was given his own key to the studio and all the lock codes after two weeks. We kept asking to get him back. I was SO SAD to see him go. I hope he's reading this. Hi, Ben. Hope LA is ruling.

Oddly enough, this is the really interesting part to me, [Dude] sounds like a pretty dumb guy who really isn't interested in engineering as a career.

But this bentern you speak of,
what made him so awesome?

[dontfeartheringo]

Oddly, my experience with this is totally polarized:

Our studio has had a dozen or more STELLAR interns in the short time I've been there. One guy (Ben, who will be forever nicknamed "The Bentern") was so awesomekillerfantastic that he was given his own key to the studio and all the lock codes after two weeks. We kept asking to get him back. I was SO SAD to see him go. I hope he's reading this. Hi, Ben. Hope LA is ruling.

Oddly enough, this is the really interesting part to me, [Dude] sounds like a pretty dumb guy who really isn't interested in engineering as a career.

But this bentern you speak of,
what made him so awesome?

Ben was just a solid guy and a grownup. I haven't mentioned his last name, so I don't think I am violating his privacy in telling you this detail: his brother (I think it was his younger brother) had some sort of medical disorder that made his life exceptionally difficult and Ben had spent a lot of time taking care of him growing up. Ben already had his priorities straight when he got to college, not just as an aspiring engineer, but also as a person.

I could run down a list of Ben's good qualities here, but they were all just facets of the fact that he was an essentially sweet kid with his head on straight. When he was at the studio, he was there to learn and to help out. He leapt into every job with the same enthusiasm. Wash the coffee pot and 11 moldy coffee cups? No problem. Take the trash to the dumpster? Sure, no sweat. Roll two miles of cables? Great. Run the board while I play drums because I can't do both? Fantastic.

You'll be hearing from The Bentern again, probably before he picks up his Grammy, but then too.

[AstroSounds]

you get what you pay for.

Except for the rare occasion when you don't.

I agree with the "you get what you pay for statement" so I read this article and I wasn't clear why this was a "except when you don't" situation. Clearly, I missed something or just don't have enough background to catch the important points in the article. Both are likely.

I've never had an audio intern or been one but I have worked in science labs with paid and un-paid people and learned the following:

1. If their paycheck comes from your account and they underperform - get rid of them
2. If they are working for no cost to you - find something they can do and smile because free labor should never go unappreciated.
3. If the only something they can reliably do is emptying trash cans then put them on it and let them decide if they want to stay or not.

[Jay Reynolds]

you get what you pay for.

Except for the rare occasion when you don't.

I agree with the "you get what you pay for statement" so I read this article and I wasn't clear why this was a "except when you don't" situation. Clearly, I missed something or just don't have enough background to catch the important points in the article. Both are likely.

Check the Jim Scott interview in the latest issue of Tape Op magazine. I'd love to be the guy who gets the next version of Jim as an intern.

[nortstudio]

Horror Story:

I had one intern who seemed fine, if not a little socially awkward. One day, after he had left for the day (we run 2 shifts per day, one intern per shift), the client told me that he had seen the intern copy some songs from my personal laptop, which contained unreleased mixes of two albums I had mixed. The computer had been sitting on the desk in the office area, CLOSED! The intern had been comfortable enough with this move, that he had allowed the client to look over his shoulder while doing this.

I immediately called the intern, who had just arrived home, and asked him to come back, with any CD he had burned at the studio. When he arrived back at the studio, I checked the CD, and indeed, there was the unreleased material.

I immediately confiscated the disc, broke it as he looked on, and told him that he would not be able to work with us any longer. He seemed shocked, and seemed to have no idea what he had done wrong.

After explaining to him that he had STOLEN mixes from a computer he had no right to be on, and that the studio would be held responsible if the songs leaked, he was still baffled about my reaction. I had to explain, slowly, that a client had seen him steal music, and that I could never have that client see that we condone such actions, and the fact that he didn't seem to understand the consequences of his actions made it even less appealing to have him around.

The final straw (as if I needed another one) was that the CD he used to burn said songs, was from the studio supply! He stole the songs AND the CD, obviously without asking, and had NO IDEA why I was firing him!

It made for a very easy call.

[No Wave Casio Kitsch]

Happily, after having a talk with him he's been exponentially better.

[Snarl 12/8]

Happily, after having a talk with him he's been exponentially better.

That's great. Congratulations. Two lives saved.

[Nick Sevilla]

I have several friends who want to "assist" me in sessions.

So, me litmus test is the following:

I do a casual session at my home studio. Usually with one session musician or the like, no real pressure.

99% of the time my friends have not shown up on time (at least 1/2hr or more late), not made any notes on what got recorded how (you know mic setups, etc). And to top it off, after the session, they do not clean up. Then they all proceed to think that now it's party time since we're done recording. So they break out their beer / pot / whatever and decide my own personal space is now their hangout. without my permission.

And most of them have graduated from "Audio Schools"... what the FUCK are they teaching them??? FUCK that shit in the arse!!! FUCK "Audio Schools"...

Then, the next time they want to "assist" I say no, and they WHINE... what a generation of pussies and lazy whiners. Who the fuck told their parents they could procreate? It sure wasn't me, that's for sure.

Needless to say I'm my own assistant. I can blame myself when it gets done wrong, and also when it's done right.

Cheers

[CurtZHP]

Horror Story:

If I ever found out an intern was accessing my laptop for ANYTHING, the next time he checked his e-mail he'd be using one of those mouth sticks that quadriplegics use.

[jmiller]

...Ben was just a solid guy and a grownup. I haven't mentioned his last name, so I don't think I am violating his privacy in telling you this detail: his brother...

OMG, I worked with this guy for like 2 years! He's great! If we're talking about the same guy (and the chances are very good that we are), he's assisting a composer doing orchestrations, etc. A stand-up guy.

[rwc]

A confession. I am indeed going to hell for my actions in this scenario.

Horror Story:

I had one intern who seemed fine, if not a little socially awkward. One day, after he had left for the day (we run 2 shifts per day, one intern per shift), the client told me that he had seen the intern copy some songs from my personal laptop, which contained unreleased mixes of two albums I had mixed. The computer had been sitting on the desk in the office area, CLOSED! The intern had been comfortable enough with this move, that he had allowed the client to look over his shoulder while doing this.

I immediately called the intern, who had just arrived home, and asked him to come back, with any CD he had burned at the studio. When he arrived back at the studio, I checked the CD, and indeed, there was the unreleased material.

I immediately confiscated the disc, broke it as he looked on, and told him that he would not be able to work with us any longer. He seemed shocked, and seemed to have no idea what he had done wrong.

After explaining to him that he had STOLEN mixes from a computer he had no right to be on, and that the studio would be held responsible if the songs leaked, he was still baffled about my reaction. I had to explain, slowly, that a client had seen him steal music, and that I could never have that client see that we condone such actions, and the fact that he didn't seem to understand the consequences of his actions made it even less appealing to have him around.

The final straw (as if I needed another one) was that the CD he used to burn said songs, was from the studio supply! He stole the songs AND the CD, obviously without asking, and had NO IDEA why I was firing him!

It made for a very easy call.

This reminds me of the day I was tasked with delivering a final set of mixes to be mastered at sterling.

When I saw the band name, my favorite at the time for half a decade, I literally ran from the place I was interning at to the place I was the tech at as fast as I could to make a copy as it was on the way.

I remember this day vividly because it was over 90F out, humid, and I was running. I walked a few blocks from the studio before commencing running and even went in the direction of the train, and was looking around to see if anyone who may be coming on for their shift could see me.

I made sure no one saw what I was doing as I did it, then ran to sterling and gave them the disk, and passworded the device I put the files on so no one could find them in the case the device was lost.

I felt like a bio-terrorist for the entirety of this journey, wondering if people in helicopters would yell "STOP!" out of a horn as I made my way to sterling.

I listened to the final copy when it came out and it sounded absolutely nothing like what I delivered. It must've been a different mix.

I also stole the last bottle of wine this mxer had left in the fridge during his last night at the studio, drank near all of it, while underaged and in the process of performing repairs to channel 25 of said place's SSL!

I live with it by thinking everyone does something stupid at 18.

I am going to hell.