I've been studying recording for three years here at Portland Community College. And for the last two I've also been working as a Lab Tech, basically showing other students how to use and understand studio equipment. Here is my question:
Are there any studios in PDX area that have room for/funds for/are willing to hire a paid intern, or maybe even an assistant engineer,..or how about a tape operator, or is that job completely obsolete?
I ask this question as aperson that has a deep love of the creative and technical aspects of recording music, but who has limited means with which to create my own studio. I have ears, and I understand the equipment and how to use it...hell, I even know how to calibrate our MCI 8-track machine. But I really have no desire to bust my ass sending out letter after letter, as my peers have done, only to be met with one or two offers for short term unpaid internships. I have to feed myself and my family...would anyone be willing to give an aspiring engineer a real job?
Thanks for reading.
Does the "paid internship" exist?!?!...if so, then
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dadamnashbird
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Professor
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Now I'm not in Portland, so I don't know what studios are around and whether there are any that really do "hire" people vs. the multitude of places that gladly (and illegally) accept slave labor from your peers. By definition, all internships must be paid, though acceptable forms of payment include college credit and professional certification. Since our industry does not have a professional certification system like plumbing, electrical or similar trade, college credit or some other cash equivalent is about it.
The trouble is (and I've ranted about this many times) that the industry is saturated with studios which are just scraping by as it is, and even more saturated with recent graduates who are more than willing to be enslaved to some promise of maybe getting paid or hired in as an assistant sometime in the future. The studios use the guys for 3 or 6 or 12 months and when the guys start complaining about needing to actually earn money, the intership is over and they bring in a new one. Sure some places will claim that they provide an equitable exchange of training and experience, but the interns are rarely trained up to be a 2nd or 1st engineer. They are simply trained to do the things the studio needs done. If they learn other stuff on their own from watching, well that's an added benefit.
Of course, this practice won't go away anytime soon because it is perpetuated by the saturation of studios and would-be engineers and the shrinking interests/budgets of bands.
Again, I can't speak to the specifics of PDX, and there may be a nice studio somewhere that really does hire employees but even that brings up the questions of whether there is an opening now and whether they'd consider you for the opening.
But believe it or not, there is hope for finding entry-level work, you just need to look beyond the limited scope of the rock-n-roll studio. Sure that's what everyone wants to do, and that's what everyone IS doing, and that's precisely why there aren't any jobs available to you.
So brush up your skills in live sound, learn about radio, film/video syncronization, computer audio streaming & data compression, and maybe brush up on your tech skills. Then look for jobs with theaters, bars, churches (the big ones), other venues, in TV, radio, film, or perhaps with internet and software companies. Nope, it's not recording local garage bands, but it can be very steady work with a grown-up size paycheck, and you'll gain some experience that will help you be ready to step into a role as 2nd engineer if one of those ever opens up near you.
If nothing else, it's a start and will keep you working in the audio industry, which really is much larger than rock recording alone.
-Jeremy
The trouble is (and I've ranted about this many times) that the industry is saturated with studios which are just scraping by as it is, and even more saturated with recent graduates who are more than willing to be enslaved to some promise of maybe getting paid or hired in as an assistant sometime in the future. The studios use the guys for 3 or 6 or 12 months and when the guys start complaining about needing to actually earn money, the intership is over and they bring in a new one. Sure some places will claim that they provide an equitable exchange of training and experience, but the interns are rarely trained up to be a 2nd or 1st engineer. They are simply trained to do the things the studio needs done. If they learn other stuff on their own from watching, well that's an added benefit.
Of course, this practice won't go away anytime soon because it is perpetuated by the saturation of studios and would-be engineers and the shrinking interests/budgets of bands.
Again, I can't speak to the specifics of PDX, and there may be a nice studio somewhere that really does hire employees but even that brings up the questions of whether there is an opening now and whether they'd consider you for the opening.
But believe it or not, there is hope for finding entry-level work, you just need to look beyond the limited scope of the rock-n-roll studio. Sure that's what everyone wants to do, and that's what everyone IS doing, and that's precisely why there aren't any jobs available to you.
So brush up your skills in live sound, learn about radio, film/video syncronization, computer audio streaming & data compression, and maybe brush up on your tech skills. Then look for jobs with theaters, bars, churches (the big ones), other venues, in TV, radio, film, or perhaps with internet and software companies. Nope, it's not recording local garage bands, but it can be very steady work with a grown-up size paycheck, and you'll gain some experience that will help you be ready to step into a role as 2nd engineer if one of those ever opens up near you.
If nothing else, it's a start and will keep you working in the audio industry, which really is much larger than rock recording alone.
-Jeremy
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dadamnashbird
- audio school
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