getting a foot in the door

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workshed
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getting a foot in the door

Post by workshed » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:26 pm

I've been slowly trying to get clients for my home studio, which I hope to make into a real studio over the next few years. A big part of this has been trying to get as much experience as I can when I have the time.

One of my clients (my day job is as a graphic designer/web developer) records a lot of voiceovers for some web-based presentations he does. I told him i'd love to be involved in the process for that and get that business from him when I can.

Today he called and wants me to come along to the very, very nice studio he usually has the voiceovers recorded at and learn the rooms and gear on a session next week so I can eventually come there and engineer future voiceovers for him. Part of this process is meeting the owner, etc. then watching the contract engineer and learning the ropes of the studio. This is also good because if I don't screw the opportunity up, I could get on their list of contractor engineers and have access to a great space to record bands and my projects at.

Anyhow, I'm really excited, but I also really don't want to mess this up. Anyone have any pointers (humorous and serious ones are welcome here) so I don't annoy/alienate/scare the working pros at this place? Good questions to ask? Things not to say to them?

We'll be in the B room with the Oram console and the PT HD3 system.

My PT is pretty rusty and I only had experience with LE, so I am guessing that will be the biggest hurdle for me, other than learning how everything is routed/patched, etc.

Thanks in advance.

-Bret

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SaneMan
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Post by SaneMan » Wed Apr 12, 2006 3:10 pm

I had a similair experience myself, although the studio wasn't nearly as nice. I got the job over the phone though, so my meeting the bosses and whatnot happened as I worked, which was quite nerve-racking.

Anyway, my advice is to brush up on your PT's editing, as the job is quite simple, but they usually want you to very quickly remove all the breathes/clicks/pops between speaking. For some reason voice over talents like to make a lot of noise, like moving the mic/mic stand between sentences, or russling the paper they're reading off. It worked out great for me though(it was actually the job the got me off ramen), and I still get calls from them every once in awhile, though I'm always to busy to take it. Oh, and just be happy if you get to deal with English. Mine was for a translation company, often doing as many as 10-12 languages a day, making it really hard to keep track of where they were on the script

Good luck, hope it works out
Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you. - Carl Jung

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workshed
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Post by workshed » Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:42 am

Thanks for the reply! Great advice. I may have to pick up an MBox again so I can have PT on my system. I've been using Logic Express since I sold off my MBox and got an 828 MKII. And I guess it can't hurt to have strong PT chops.

Also great to know about dealing with voiceover talent. This will be a new facet of recording for me, but also one that I think I could get a fair amount of business out of in the future.

-Bret

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Post by Professor » Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:51 am

I wouldn't sweat the ProTools stuff until you know you have the gig. Really you should just go along on this session and see what is happening. The differences between HD and LE should be pretty invisible since they are just doing voice-over work which isn't particularly track or I/O intensive, and it won't matter much to you whether they are using RTAS or TDM plugs.
What you will likely see is lots of cutting, pasting, punch-ins and probably some pretty fast finger work on the old keyboard. I know that folks who try to watch me working on vocal or solo overdub sessions or on editing and mix sessions tend to ask me to slow down or explain what keys I'm hitting. ProTools has an interesting mode where the keyboard is set into a 'single-key' mode where instead of hitting Opt+E to separate regions for example, you can just hit E, or or D for 'fade from start', F for 'fade/crossfade highlighted area', or G for 'fade to end'. Hopefully you can already see where those kinds of single key strokes can really speed up an editing session, but it can be confusing to watch from a distance because it can go so fast.

And that brings up another important tip - don't talk too much, or perhaps at all.
The normal rule of thumb is that the client is paying for their recording time, not for your learning time. So just like any other intern or guest you want to keep quiet so you don't take up time in the session. Of course, the client is your friend so he might be a bit more understanding, but it shows good studio manners anyway. More important, you don't know if the engineer feels like being a nice teacher to the guy who is there watching him so he can eventually take the job away from him. I'd try really hard to not make that fact known, and try to just come off as an interested amateur who is respectful, quiet, and there to watch more than he is there to learn... even if that isn't really the case.

-Jeremy

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workshed
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Post by workshed » Thu Apr 13, 2006 12:15 pm

Thanks Professor. Words of wisdom. I generally tend to be a pretty quiet person and don't ask questions unless someone seems receptive to answering questions. I did consider that it might be awkward to be in there as the guy who might take work away from the engineer, and I want to be respectful of that person's time and work for sure.

Good to know about the keyboard mode in PT. I think that I could pick that stuff back up again pretty quickly. I guess I am going more to get a feel for the studio itself. The one sort of weird thing about the studio is that it is more or less owned by a large church, so I think they cater mostly to Christian-based musicians. Although every studio needs to pay the bills and this one looks like it might have quite a few bills to pay, so i can't see why they'd turn down paying non-Christian projects as long as I'm not recording GG Allin or Deicide something.

Thanks!

-Bret

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Post by Electro-Voice 664 » Thu Apr 13, 2006 3:33 pm

Don?t get all stoned and laugh at the project?s stupid wording.
Don?t show up with Wormwood and make fun of the Christian overtones.
Don?t point to the racks and ask if they really know what ?all that stuff does?.
Don?t watch Mrs. Doubtfire to understand a V.O. session, in fact never watch it for any reason.
Hope this helps. :D
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Post by Professor » Fri Apr 14, 2006 4:21 am

Is this place perhaps the Crossroads Community Church in Vancouver, WA?
I've never been there or talked to the folks, but there are photos available here at the Russ Berger website. Still no photos of my place up there, but that's because they didn't install gear for 3 years or so after it was done, and I just haven't had the time to get the whole placed cleaned up for hi-res photos yet.
Either way, is that the place?

-Jeremy

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workshed
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Post by workshed » Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:01 am

That would indeed be the place. I've never been to it before, but I have seen a lot of photos. Beautiful looking studio.

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Post by dokushoka » Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:13 am

Focus on getting the routing down.

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workshed
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Post by workshed » Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:17 am

wintershed wrote:Don?t get all stoned and laugh at the project?s stupid wording.
Don?t show up with Wormwood and make fun of the Christian overtones.
Don?t point to the racks and ask if they really know what ?all that stuff does?.
Don?t watch Mrs. Doubtfire to understand a V.O. session, in fact never watch it for any reason.
Hope this helps. :D
Damn, and here I was going to bring Wormwood along! :-)

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workshed
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Post by workshed » Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:32 am

dokushoka wrote:Focus on getting the routing down.
Yeah, I think that is what I fear the most, i.e., wasting time during setup and tracking while I try to fumble my way around or zapping an expensive piece of gear because I didn't know they were running phantom power through the patching system. I think a voiceover is an ideal session during which to learn though, due to the relatively simple setup.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

Kelly
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Post by Kelly » Fri Apr 14, 2006 11:23 am

From my limited experience, I've noticed several things:

Dont make comments on things you dont *really* know about. Like "I've *heard* a lot of engineers like that mic". Or obvious things like "Oh, the Neuman U**, that's a classic". If they have one, they already know this.

Be attentive and fast. If someone says "there's a ground hum on the DI", be prepared to hit the grounding switch on the DI. If they're about to lay down a track, and the tracking room door is open, close it before the engineer asks you to. This is important. An engineer could have shut the door himself in the time he's noticed anything not being done about it and asked someone else to do it.

People are more likely to want to work with you if they like your personality. Get a feel for their humor style, but keep it professional and know when not to talk.

Dont make negative comments unless the engineer asked for feedback.

Be polite, but dont be a complete bitch. I dont mean talk back, but basically, be confident. Being nervous will screw you.

I'm not affiliated with any studio (One did pick me up, but I'm not working there yet), but lately I get invited to assist on sessions with a studio over an hour away. The reason is I'm an asset to the session and the person in charge finds it fun when I'm around.

Also, if you ever hand in a Resume, make sure it's filled with content. Dont talk about your philosophy on sound and how great the studio is you're applying to. They want to know what you know. Also, let them know you're not your regular idiot. If you've been on the deans list at college for instance, mention it, even though it's not directly related to audio. So far, every studio I sent a resume out to has got back to me, and one even picked me up. These are 100 d/hr studios.

I know these are suggestions mainly for interns rather than a co-engineer or assistant, but much of it still applies I think.

Hope I added something handy to the discussion

- kelly

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Post by Professor » Fri Apr 14, 2006 1:15 pm

Yeah, I suppose kelly's comments bring up a pretty good point about this opportunity. If you impress the folks at the studio or the engineer, you might get some invites to assist on other sessions. Of course, if that happens before your friend starts calling you in for lead duties to replace the current guy, it might be a more wise career move to turn down that particular opportunity in favor of assisting that lead on other projects and proving yourself as a peer and a partner rather than instantly becoming a rival.
More people skills than audio really, and it's hard to predict whether things will go that way or not, but I suppose that's the point of this section of the site, isn't it?

-J

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Post by audiogeek1 » Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:05 pm

I agree with what has been said thus far. In being an assistant many moons ago the biggest thing I did to get ahead was to anticipate like Kelly said. Doing the small things that go unnoticed to the artist but are huge to the engineer will get you behind the console faster than having to be told to do it. I know a few times when the engineer did not need a break he just wanted to see if I could take over. This was big in getting to the next step.

Also learning as much about the console is a big thing. There were many times as an assistant that I made the session flow because I could see the "Hired Gun" having a problem with the routing of the console and I leanded forward to ask the engineer if he needed a drink or something to eat and would hit the button he had been searching for, all the time the client had no idea the engineer was having trouble.

Little things like this go a long way. Definitely be polite, and only speak when you are spoken to by the engineer. These things will help make you look better to the person in charge.

Just some random words.

Mike

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Post by snuffinthepunk » Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:53 pm

Great thread guys. I'm working on getting my foot in the door as well, up in Nashville. There are a few big studios I've talked to who want to hear from me when I'm in town, one of them will have my resume on his desk sometime tomorrow and wants me to check up with him. It's nervewracking, kinda, even though I'm very confident with my people and professional skills, because I want to make the best impression possible.

Something that might help is taking notes when you're in the studio watching and asking questions about them LATER if the engineer is one who would be happy to answer your questions. Also, it may seem like common sense, but, never question the engineer. If you can't think of a clever way to slip in the solution to his problem without telling him what to do or making a suggestion to him, you should probably keep it to yourself. You don't want to hurt your superior's pride =) that could probably get you kicked out faster than you can say "get the hell out of here!"

Again, this is a great thread, very informative and helpful.
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