internships

scott757 · 26th July 2005

i talked to a studio in nashville and they told me its hard to get an internship without being in school. i was pointed in the direction of such programs as getamentor.com and others like it. what do you think about what he said? is it possible to get an internship at a big studio without going to school or being in one of these mentorship programs.

JonCraig · 26th July 2005

i would guess that, just as an internship gets your foot in the door, the backing education gets your foot in the internship door. a studio owner/engineer/whatever your situation is, can rest easier knowing that someone they're going to have tag along for 16 weeks already knows what phantom power is, knows to put the 47 on a big-ass stand, knows not to put that 47 away until it's cooled down for a while, etc.

also, the school-based internship concept implies that, even if the student is a dumbass, he/she won't do anything too terrible, as his/her grades will suffer as a result.

a third strike against your situation is the fact that nashville is super-saturated with MTSU, Belmont, & SAE students trying to get each and every internship. (I should also say that I am an MTSU grad, and did 2 wonderful internships, each of which alone was easily worth my tuition for 4 years).

that said, there's no reason why you couldn't contact an individual and actually talk to him. explain your situation--that you're not just someone off the street, you know your stuff, etc.

also, both my internships where for "guys". not "studios". both of them owned their own studios, yes, but i wasn't an intern for "super mega studio" on music row. what does that mean? i didn't get to get coffee for, or sit in on sessions with Rush, or Garth, etc. What i did get to do was *record* (yes, i got to sit in front of the PT rig and hit cmd-spacebar) session musicians. i got to ask, "mr. abcd, when you mic'd [insert grammy-winning artist here], what did you use?" that sort of thing. most of the folks i graduated with who did internships at big studios didn't get much time at all in the control room. one good friend of mine got to clean all the gunk off the phones one day. ewww...

now wait a minute... i did my fair share of "intern" work, too. cleaned gutters, labeled & cataloged tapes, installed a new toilet valve, helped build an iso booth, etc.--you should expect to do that sort of thing, and i'm sure you do.

i would say that gearslutz is as good a place as any to try to find someone. there are plenty of nashville cats here, and i can think of at least three that regularly hang out in the chat. go talk to people, and be cool about it, and good luck!

sorry this turned into a novel.

--jon

oh, and PM me if you have any more questions.

opentune · 28th July 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonCraig

sorry this turned into a novel.

Hey, i think it´s great that you shared that novel with all the guys
that wanna know more about internships...
If anyone does a search on this forum, he´ll find this thread
which will at least give some motivation.

cletus · 1st August 2005

I am doing an internship in northern california right now. I am not in any kind of recording school nor have I ever been. I got taken in because the engineers could tell that I was highly motivated and willing to work. I've been there for over three months now and am learning alot. You are offering to work for free in exchange for an opportunity to learn and eventually someome is gonna take you on as long as you are professional in your attitude towards work and learning. Just find some studios that you like in your area and call them up every week. Develop a repoire with the people who work there and eventually when one of those rec. school kids internship is up, you'll be the one they'll call. Good luck and oh yeah don't be afraid to scrub a toilet or two but don't let yourself get taken advantage of either.

AlanNWC · 4th August 2005

i definately remember having to spill 700 reels of 1/2" tape once during a short internship.
but as much as it sucked and all the little tape cuts burned and stung, id do it all again in a second if i had to.

i agree that by doing my first internship in a smaller studio i got much more hands-on learning experience, rather than hands-on toilet cleaning.

my best advice is to just keep at them without getting to the point of being irritating. eventually someone will tell you to put the money where your mouth is and will give you a shot.

but also concider that the recording industry is getting tighter everyday.
some guys are pretty tight lipped about stuff and dont feel that they need to train another engineer to send out into an already saturated market.
im not saying thats my opinion, im just throwing that out in the open.
some people still feel its a dont ask-dont tell industry.

man this didnt seem so long in my head. sorry.

26th July 2005	#1
scott757 Gear Head Joined: Nov 2004 Location: hampton,va Posts: 33 Thread Starter	internships i talked to a studio in nashville and they told me its hard to get an internship without being in school. i was pointed in the direction of such programs as getamentor.com and others like it. what do you think about what he said? is it possible to get an internship at a big studio without going to school or being in one of these mentorship programs.

26th July 2005	#2
JonCraig Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2004 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 1,800	i would guess that, just as an internship gets your foot in the door, the backing education gets your foot in the internship door. a studio owner/engineer/whatever your situation is, can rest easier knowing that someone they're going to have tag along for 16 weeks already knows what phantom power is, knows to put the 47 on a big-ass stand, knows not to put that 47 away until it's cooled down for a while, etc. also, the school-based internship concept implies that, even if the student is a dumbass, he/she won't do anything too terrible, as his/her grades will suffer as a result. a third strike against your situation is the fact that nashville is super-saturated with MTSU, Belmont, & SAE students trying to get each and every internship. (I should also say that I am an MTSU grad, and did 2 wonderful internships, each of which alone was easily worth my tuition for 4 years). that said, there's no reason why you couldn't contact an individual and actually talk to him. explain your situation--that you're not just someone off the street, you know your stuff, etc. also, both my internships where for "guys". not "studios". both of them owned their own studios, yes, but i wasn't an intern for "super mega studio" on music row. what does that mean? i didn't get to get coffee for, or sit in on sessions with Rush, or Garth, etc. What i did get to do was record (yes, i got to sit in front of the PT rig and hit cmd-spacebar) session musicians. i got to ask, "mr. abcd, when you mic'd [insert grammy-winning artist here], what did you use?" that sort of thing. most of the folks i graduated with who did internships at big studios didn't get much time at all in the control room. one good friend of mine got to clean all the gunk off the phones one day. ewww... now wait a minute... i did my fair share of "intern" work, too. cleaned gutters, labeled & cataloged tapes, installed a new toilet valve, helped build an iso booth, etc.--you should expect to do that sort of thing, and i'm sure you do. i would say that gearslutz is as good a place as any to try to find someone. there are plenty of nashville cats here, and i can think of at least three that regularly hang out in the chat. go talk to people, and be cool about it, and good luck! sorry this turned into a novel. --jon oh, and PM me if you have any more questions. __________________ "My job is to make music sound great and to not whine too much." --George Massenburg Learn PT Techniques from Multi-Platinum Engineers. Click Here.

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1st August 2005	#4
cletus Gear addict Joined: May 2005 Location: Bay Area Posts: 406	I am doing an internship in northern california right now. I am not in any kind of recording school nor have I ever been. I got taken in because the engineers could tell that I was highly motivated and willing to work. I've been there for over three months now and am learning alot. You are offering to work for free in exchange for an opportunity to learn and eventually someome is gonna take you on as long as you are professional in your attitude towards work and learning. Just find some studios that you like in your area and call them up every week. Develop a repoire with the people who work there and eventually when one of those rec. school kids internship is up, you'll be the one they'll call. Good luck and oh yeah don't be afraid to scrub a toilet or two but don't let yourself get taken advantage of either.

4th August 2005	#5
AlanNWC Gear interested Joined: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 14	i definately remember having to spill 700 reels of 1/2" tape once during a short internship. but as much as it sucked and all the little tape cuts burned and stung, id do it all again in a second if i had to. i agree that by doing my first internship in a smaller studio i got much more hands-on learning experience, rather than hands-on toilet cleaning. my best advice is to just keep at them without getting to the point of being irritating. eventually someone will tell you to put the money where your mouth is and will give you a shot. but also concider that the recording industry is getting tighter everyday. some guys are pretty tight lipped about stuff and dont feel that they need to train another engineer to send out into an already saturated market. im not saying thats my opinion, im just throwing that out in the open. some people still feel its a dont ask-dont tell industry. man this didnt seem so long in my head. sorry.