work experience help

[snouta]

Hey guys, my name is Kristian and i am currently completting a Advanced Diploma course in Music Industry at RMIT and need to complete some work experience

Im wondering if anyone on here can help me out with some, in a studio or live venue or anywhere really

I live in sunbury but am happy to travel and even interstate if needed

If anyone can help that would be very much appreciated.

Kristian

[snouta]

anyone with offers? or can help?

[13thbeach]

Instead of waiting for a reply here, I'd say go visit studios
In person. Make the effort and it might pay off.
Good luck.

[The Tasmanian]

Going to visit studios is a good idea - but there are so many people cueing to do the same, and in most cases, in a busy studio, we are working with tighter deadlines, less time/money to make great records, a work experience person has little to do except clean up and run for food, hardly ever allowed into a tight recording session.
So I suggest you also look to align yourself with a good busy engineer/mixer/producer/mastering engineer - and hope to get some real experience in making great records instead of washing up.
I see so many people in your situation sitting around looking for something to do
Its a sad reality - but this is the the world we live and work in.
The young guy I am mentoring/assisting me me decided to save and do a course with Michael Wagener in the USA - just to get some killer experience. Now that is a keen.
Think BIG
Go for it - you need to think outside the square on this - and in the future to survive in this industry

[snouta]

thanks guys, yeah i tried contacting studios last year by email and asking and most never got back to me so i guess im going to have to go all out this year to find something.

wow the US damn commitment.

heres to hoping

[mylesgm]

the volume of emails and letters from 'prospective assistants' is truly gargantuan and very easily ignored. Somebody showing up at a studio offering to work for free and bringing something to the table may work but most studios I know don't employ assistants so even if they like you they're still not going to give you a job. Work alongside a producer or better yet, find a band and offer to engineer their album and get them to pay for a producer, inside track for you both in learning and getting to know the producer.

[Drumstruck]

Hey Kristian,

It's extremely difficult to get a foot in the door as a fledgling engineer - I canvassed every studio in Sydney back in 1978 (there weren't very many then....) and none had a position for love or money - I even offered to work for nothing to get experience......

Festival were really good - a manager met with me and was a really nice guy - he told me they couldn't take anyone on at that time and then got the head engineer to take me on a tour of the site which was fantastic.

AAT also showed me around their studio in Glebe and the guy (would you believe it was Kevin Jacobsen!) also said that they couldn't take anyone on yet but suggested that I do the SAE course and then come back. I funded myself through the SAE course by working in a factory by day (yes, I am a grad and Tom Misner was the teacher - he was excellent btw) and went back to AAT - would you believe that Kevin said I should have been there last week because they just took on a new guy..........

....... there was some live mixing work around back then and I even did some roadieing ..... after a couple of years more trying I gave up and "got a real job".

Now, thanks to technology advances and having worked at jobs that I don't like for 30 years I have been able to afford my small studio and am my own boss (in between the working day and the family night).


Hope this doesn't put you off - my advice is to learn everything you can - read every book / magazine - work with live bands - talk to people - take on board all the knowledge you can - if it's what you want to do don't give up !!

waffle over and out

[Mark Bassett]

Read my post in this thread

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=217

You may be at an advantage as you are not looking for a 'job', simply some work experience with no obligation whatsoever on behalf of the studio.

[snouta]

thanks guys, you make it sound so hard and almost like its not even worth trying, but i am going to give it my best shot, now just to trake down every studio in melboure and introduce myself to everyone!!!

and thanks mark, that thread was really intruiging, opened my eyes a bit more.

Kristian.

[mylesgm]

It IS really hard and its only worth doing if you really want to, and I mean REALLY want to. The pay sucks, the hours suck, sometimes the clients suck and there are always people out there who will undercut you or shaft you so consider what you would actually like to do with your life in general before you decide to pursue this as a career. In can be very rewarding but rarely in a financial sense, I mean I doubt I'll ever own my house unless somehow my wife pays for it or my parents leave me with a surprising legacy. So consider life goals and see how being an engineer or a producer stacks up.

[snouta]

Yeah im 100% that this is what i want to do, money is no problem, there is always other ways of getting that if i need to, and i love doing it, its prett ymuch the only thing i could see myself doing.

[capitalK]

hey mate,

maybe you want to be a little more specific about what you want to do too?
do you want to record rock bands?
do you want to do audio in a television scenario?
do you want to be a live sound engineer?

you can do awhole lot of different things in the industry, that aren't always very closely related...

i assume that you have enough knowledge thru your education to run a daw, hit record, and gennerally make signal happen.. so network with bands. everyone who's starting out in a band wants to record, even if it's a demo recorded thru a 002 in their rehearsal space... i imagine you can take it all back to school and mix on their equipment, and you've paid $0 in overhead costs... beautiful! whilst you're doing that for them, you can suggest you mix their next gig, which may well be in a 100 cap room thru a vocal p.a only... but it's experience.

if you have talent, and you can acheive any kind of desirable result for a young band, it wont take long before another will hit you up, cause they ike what you do, and you're cheap! haha.

there is a certain amount of tech knowledge that you need, but your ears will get you everywhere.

alternatively, do what i did and ditch school, work full time, and spend an eternity in debt because you bought a butt load of sweet sweet gear.

[snouta]

well im really keeping my options open and looking for work experience anywhere in any part of the industry, first choice would be a studio then live, then anything.

yeah thats been my thought for a while now, in setting up a small recording rig and offering it to band, at the moment ive got a 002, some monitors and some basics mics,

[snouta]

So ive decided to takle getting into this industry head on now and have decided to start my own basic business, working as a freelance engineer

i have a facebook page about my professional self now, http://www.facebook.com/kristians.audio.engineering

Lets hope this gets me started

[Mark Bassett]

Start a blog/website, they look far more professional.

[snouta]

yeah i was considering that, but i dont know anything about creating websites and stuff, any ideas where i can start? thanks

[Kurt]

Someone posted a link on here maybe? The Australian government has an initiative to get small business online, offering free basic hosting with built in site design.

Pretty sure that was the deal... Maybe I saw it here, maybe on a computer nerd site I also frequent.

yeah i was considering that, but i dont know anything about creating websites and stuff, any ideas where i can start? thanks

[snouta]

oh thanks, ill look into this, thanks a lot

[Mark Bassett]

ANYONE can make a blog, they basically make themselves.

www.blogspot.com

[snouta]

oh anyone, well that includes me, ill give it a go, thanks a lot Mark.

[The Tasmanian]

Start a blog when you've got some experiences and something to talk about.
What are you going to say on a blog at this stage?
Woke up at 9am - thought some more about what job I really want to do.....and how hard everyone says it is to get a foot in the door.....

Don't talk about it before you've done it - do some hard work first.
Go and see every band you can - every opportunity you have, and beg to do their demons for nothing, pick them up in your car, organize it all, contact everyone,and work with a budget of nothing, stay up at night - night after night until you feel stupid - just to get a better mix for the demo's - so that you may get another opportunity in the future - by your hard work and dedication, and the reputation that you now have by all the members of the band you pulled out all stops for.
Then you'll have something to say on your blog - its a start,
As this forums headline states - "you have to start somewhere"
A blog or website before experience????
I would also suggest that a blog at this point in your career may not be a good idea when you look back in the future - you may regret it.
Blogs are killer when the person is a master in their field, with great knowledge/insight to share - otherwise its online masturbation.
Its pretty easy - you've just got to be killer at what you do - better than 90% of everyone around you.
Then we will all read your blogs.
10% inspiration plus 90% hard work

[snouta]

hmm well it would be fun to let people know what im doing every minute of the day, maybe a twitter account is a better idea? sorry, i agree the idea of using a blog for blogging is a bit a head of myself, but i believe it was suggested as a means making a more professional looking page, rather then the facebook one i have now. but oh well a blog really is a bit far off cause i tried to make one and just got confused about it.

Thats exactly what im trying to do now, ive pretty much been telling everyone i know that im offering myself to record any band who wants a recording, at their rehearsal space and everything, im slowly getting my rig together now which will help.

while im here, if anyone can help, im in need of an ADAT capable mic pre amp to use with my digi002, im thinking of either a be!@#$%^& ADA8000 simply fr the price and what it offers, though i know a lot of you will think im crazy or a Presonus Digimax D8 or a Focusrite Octopre. If anyone can give me an idea which is the best choice it would be great, and please just dont hate on the be!@#$%^&. Also any other suggestions would be great.

Kristian.

[snouta]

well i went with Presonus Digimax D8, hope its a good choice, also bought a Shure DMK57-52 drum mic kit (3 SM57s and a beta 52A) and an Audix i5, now to find some bands to record.

[The Tasmanian]

go for it ! - you've got enough gear to do a OK recording.
What band in their right mind would knock back a free recording?
Many bands also want to demo before they go into a bigger studio - so if you can do their demo's, then you may also get an opportunity to sit in on a studio session.
When I first started out I only had 2 mic's - I did heaps of albums.
When I tracked a live band I borrowed some more mic's - and then all the overdubs and mixing I could manage with very little gear and a lot of dedication to make great with what seems now like almost no equipment.
What small amount of money you make put back into the gear.
In the meantime - try to record as much as you can on your own (if you play an instrument).
You need to build a showreel - something that you can have on CD in your bag at gigs to hand out to the bands that you think you can record well
Regards and the best of luck.

[snouta]

Thanks a lot, im hoping i get some work now, and i hope I have invested in some stuff i can hold onto as well, and thanks again for the confidence boost.

Yeah thats what im hoping, getting in with some young bands now that have no expereince and mentor them a bit in regards to working in a studio type environment so that if and when they do get into a studio it will save them time and money (even thought that takes it away from us).

Im really hoping this all works for me, so if anyone knows any bands that want very cheap/free recordings in melbourne, send them my way please

[capitalK]

remember as well, once you have your chops up, and you feel "your sound" could benefit from some tasty mic's and pre's, you can always find out who's hiring equipment locally.
if the band doesnt mind spending a little money, and you dont mind making none (get used to it!), this can give you some experience with different "botique" and vintage equipment, without shelling out $7k plus for a neve 1073 yourself.

but you'll be amazed what you can do with mic placement and knowing how to get the best from the instruments tone.

good luck!

[snouta]

Oh you can hire actual gear? did not know this, i knew you could hire mics but not pres and stuff, i had thought of hiring mics already cause i dont have the most fanciest vocal mic, but that's something to think about, thanks for the info, but would love some nice pres, when i get the money.

thanks

[Alistair]

http://www.singsinghire.com.au/

And I'm sure a bunch of guys on the board hire too.

[snouta]

thanks for that, defiantly going to look around now for there places, thanks

[mylesgm]

Hi Kristian,

I can hire you certain things, preamps, mics, etc. But Numero Uno, when you hire make damn certain the gear is returned in absolutely perfect condition otherwise be prepared to shell out for either repair or full purchase price and to face having a very bad reputation. I remember someone hiring a c414 (not from me) and then 'forgetting' to return it to the company. The company called a few times and then sent him a bill for the cost of the mic. The individual in question freaked out at the cost and then said there was no way it was worth that amount of money etc etc you can see where this is going. Its really easy to get a bad reputation and very hard to maintain a good one.

And a good reputation is the number one thing that will see you through tough times.

M