Assisting/Interning/Apprenticeships

[surf's up]

I am curious about getting involved with some kind of professional mentor or other opportunity to improve my knowledge. Whether it be assisting in sessions, doing bitch work, just observing, etc. - studio or live but preferably studio setting. I dont need to get paid - just as long as i am learning something.

My main questions are:

1) In general, how beneficial would a relationship of this kind be? Would it help further my skills in a way that no amount of personal tinkering or book knowledge can? Or am I just asking to be an unpaid coffee slave?

2) How hard would it be to acquire such a position? I didnt go to any recording schools, ive just been doing this on my own for a while, learning from trial and error, books, and message boards. I know there are a ton of kids with an 001 and an EV Cobalt out there. I was once one of them. I think its fair to say I have separated myself from that class now. But still, I know theres a lot of talented people out there who probably want the same thing.

Anyway, your expertise on the matter would be very much appreciated. Especially those of you who have been through a situation like this in the adolescence of your career. Jeez, I feel like Im back in the guidance counselor's office

[joelpatterson]

Look at it from the perspective of the guy who's running a business that you want to get in on:

If there are ways that you can really help, anybody would love that. The first few interns I had were like that, really cool guys. When I couldn't be in two places at once, they took the "lesser" gig and did a fantastic job. I listened to those DATs with something approaching envy--these guys were good!

The last and final interns were like I was the babysitter and they were the babies, needing entertainment, easily bored, couldn't stay for the duration of the session, sat in judgement of the band and how unlike Korn they were.

I think the best approach is to present yourself at the front door and explain what you're looking for and what you have to offer. I think you can make the sale in ten seconds if you're hip to the way everything works. Keep in mind--people who run studios have to contend with incredible amounts of bullshit and outright madness. We need level heads and reliable hands and pure hearts to help us with the dirty work.

[alissa]

i think it depends on the place...the first place i interned, the guy who hired interns wasn't an engineer at all. so all i had to do was crack him up. i didn't get any hands on experience there. but i did get to observe a lot of goings on. they didn't really train interns at all. so it was mostly a wallfly thing. they went through lots and lots of interns. so it was more of a political skill sharpening experience.

the second one actually wanted a resume. by then i had a little more experience. i did get some hands on experience there, but i'm not sure if my sense of humor really came across. so it was more of a technical skill sharpening.

i think each situation is unique and you have to take what you can from it, but not try to make it more than it is...

[JGriffin]

I interned with a guy in East Lansing who went on to record a few pretty big Detroit groups, and all I remember doing was standing for three hours once with one finger on the faceplate of a Marshall head and the other on the guitar player's low E string so his guitar wouldn't buzz so much as he tracked his solos.

That's me, the human ground wire...bright future I got ahead of me.

Oh yeah, we'd also had the same prof at college so we bitched about that dude a bit. He's a good guy as I recall. Just didn't have much for an intern to do.

On another internship I cut 6 million promos for wet t-shirt contests, and tried unsuccessfully to get Prince's Black Album played on the radio.

[raw-tracks]

1) In general, how beneficial would a relationship of this kind be? Would it help further my skills in a way that no amount of personal tinkering or book knowledge can? Or am I just asking to be an unpaid coffee slave?

It depends on where you do the internship. I was fortunate to land a nice internship out of college at an artist owned, commercial studio in Nashville. I went to college as a music major with an emphasis on recorofing technology. I though I knew a lot about studios and recording when I left school. I will say, without a doubt, I learned more on my 3 month internship than I had learned in my previous 4 years learning about recording in college. That is by no means a cheap shot at the recording program I was in at college, it was excellent. However, there is nothing like learning from people, on the job, who do this every day, on real, big money sessions.