27th January 2011
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#1 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Seattle
Posts: 40
Thread Starter | Secrets of Surviving 40 years in the Studio Business
I was recently asked by a young recording engineer at the studio we work for: “… How have you stayed in the studio business as a professional recording engineer for forty years?” That is a great question. Mark Twain is a model of communication for me. Now I’m not certain if Twain said it exactly this way, but if he didn’t, he should have because it’s right. He best answers the question of longevity in the recording studio business with his explanation of luck. “Luck is nothing more than persistence meeting opportunity.” Any recording engineer surviving in the business for more than a decade has met this experience, those who recognize it can capitalize on the encounter. Luck is one of the components necessary in what my mentor, Donny Sciarrotta, calls the “magic” of making it in this business. It would be way too easy to leave it there with unspecific dribble running into obscurity while allowing real knowledge to wander off in the unknown that lies down the rabbit hole. Don’t get me wrong, I love life down the rabbit hole. As a matter of fact it is a luxury I now enjoy after surviving all these years as an independent recording engineer in the professional recording studio business. The real truth here, there’s more practical practices you can count on to help you move forward down a long career path other than luck and magic. Number one: You need to have a good sense for balance. It is the act of emotionally balancing yourself that is in discussion here. You know, it’s balancing the person you bring to the pan pot, fader, awesome new processor modeled after an old processer or whatever audio do-dad is cool today. It is as much an art form as is being able to balance out a mix. The building of this skill set requires as much time and dedication to master as does its electronic counterpart. Knowing the answer to the age old question of, what is it that well balanced people balance on, is as important of a process to your craft as is powering up the amplifiers driving your control room monitors. I’ve always found that it was easier for me to balance a mix if I first knew just what the expletive it is that I’m trying to balance. An example to that would be: logic and emotion balance together. When emotion is high, logic is low. You build your chops in this area by the practice of recognizing and balancing yourself to that reference, as well as balancing yourself out to the multitude of counterparts it has in close relation, such as: the closer you are to something the less objective you will be towards it. I think they, whoever “they” are, call it “self-awareness”. The most important balancing act you need to master will be between your personal life and your career. If you say the studio “is” your personal life I would counter with the fact that I’ve met many of you throughout my four decades of being in and out of various recording studios. You all share one common trait. You are not very interesting. We are all in the studio business; yeah we get it, so are you.When you’re deep in the throes of a recording project with someone, you get real close, real personal. You want to take moments of a mental pause to “vibe out” in your pressured environment. Vibe out as in mentally outside of the environment you currently occupy. If you don’t have a life outside of the studio there will be very little for you to discuss with your clients allowing them to establish a connection with you to their “outside” world. How boring is that after a few hours of being captured together in a small room? Actually, your personal life helps you establish your “hook”. Another Sciarrotta-ism, if you will, came from Donny’s brother Chris: “… if you’re gonna make it in this business, you need to have a hook”. Anyone who has ever worked with me knows of my personality and the life it leads away from the studio. In my client’s eyes, the engineering qualities I bring into the studio are my talent. The engineering qualities I bring to the machines I build, to help me travel great distances at unsafe velocities across uneven terrain, are a part of my hook. Just like in learning audio console operations, the more you practice balancing yourself, the easier it becomes an art form to master. It is not easy. Try it. Number two: Relentlessly drive yourself to where you want to go. Envision yourself there and push towards it. You don’t have to think hard about Twain’s explanation of luck here. As the man said, or to paraphrase, you only meet opportunity when you pursue it. If you sit and foolishly wait in preparation for opportunity to come to you, it may be a good idea for you to prepare to wave as opportunity passes you by. This part is imperative, you have to have realistic expectations for yourself and all that you encompass. You also have to ask yourself why. Why do you want to do this business to yourself? Why are you really here? This is not an easy business to survive in. Speaking of business, do you really understand it from a business level? Honestly, do you even realize that you are “in business”? Are you so caught up in the love of the art that you have missed the whole “need to be compensated” aspect of what you do? Have you yet to be whooped upside the head with the reality that this recording stuff is really expensive and no one wants to pay you to use it? Are they lining up to offer you the world tomorrow to use it for free right now? To quote Wimpy, “I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”. Are their expectations realistic? Are yours if you’re a student in a recording school hoping to graduate in a week then move right into mixing a hit record for a major recording artist at ten thousand dollars a song the following week? Those are lofty goals to drive towards but be prepared for disappointment shortly after graduation day. Here is what I know encompasses me: I have known throughout my career that I wanted to live, to quote Kenny Loggins, “by rivers and trees”. I knew going into this business that in order for me to fulfill that personal mandate I’d have to spend a fair amount of time away from my family to participate in major recording projects while maintaining the lifestyle my wife and I desired for our children. We (please take note of the intended use of the word “We”) understood the choices of career vs. lifestyle and the ramifications therein. I did my first recording project (non-professional) in 1968 and the most recent professional project yesterday. Most of what I’ve engineered will not be heard by many. Some of what I’ve engineered lately is heard daily by so many people that it boggles the imagination just to think of the numbers. I’m now privileged to be employed to operate one of the biggest Pro Tools HD systems of its kind with access to 3000 plug-ins per control room and all the processing power needed to pull it off. This is the only business I have ever really known. My wife and I are now 37 years married. We have raised 3 successful daughters who now bring our grandchildren home to the house they grew up in. That is my talk walking. I’ve always kept my eye on what I knew was central in our lives and have relentlessly driven myself towards it. What kind of engineer would I be anyway if I couldn’t engineer out a plan for the coming together of the things that are important to me? Part of that plan is staying sharp, keeping my chops up, watching for opportunity when it arises and most important, being humble and grateful to whatever and whomever help get me, here. This is the place I’ve been driving for, the proven test of longevity. Number three: You only get to say “no” once. This should not require an explanation. It should point towards a discussion on the importance of the delicate balance between personal life vs. career. Epilog: We are all gearslutz here. In this digital age it is important to keep in focus the analog component of our work. It’s the people. The people whose art you are privileged to capture and the people who will enjoy their talent through yours. If it wasn’t for either one of them you’d have no reason to play with all those cool toys …tools. More later… s2 http://www.s2audio.com
Last edited by s2_Audio; 27th January 2011 at 09:13 PM..
Reason: inactive link
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27th January 2011
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#2 | | Gear Guru
Joined: May 2005 Location: Albany, New York
Posts: 10,701
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... who was that masked man?
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29th January 2011
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#3 | | Gear interested
Joined: Apr 2008 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Posts: 18
| Thank You
As someone who is young in this field and is hustling to make a name for himself. Its hard to take yourself away from the studio, when I feel like any minute I'm not spent working I'm losing the chance to improve and get myself closer to the goal (Whatever that might be). This post is exactly what I needed to validate myself when I'm not working. A life working all the time and not living is something I'm not interested in. Thanks s2_Audio your words will resonate with me for a long time.
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29th January 2011
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#4 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Seattle
Posts: 40
Thread Starter |
...as will your kind words for me, Spartan Man, reverbrate like some cool expletive analog chamber @ Capitol Studios (full excursion). Thank you very much and good luck brother.
s2
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30th January 2011
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#5 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 272
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great read! thanks for posting this.
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31st January 2011
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#6 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Seattle
Posts: 40
Thread Starter | More to follow
Thank you for your response to these tips. My manager Rick read this before its posting. His comment: "That's it? I know you have more to say."
He's right, after all we've been friends for 25 years. There is more to follow. Thank you again.
s2 s2 audio engineering | |
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31st January 2011
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#7 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Sep 2004 Location: Bavaria, Germany
Posts: 2,178
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Luck to get there.
Talent/education to get the job done.
Persistence and hard* work to keep the jobs.
More luck.
* I put the asterisk in there because if I love what I do it's not 'hard' work but fun, even if it looks like hard work to everyone else.
For everyone successful I show you two losers with as much talent. Of course there are a lot losers with little talent...
My nearly 30 years in the biz.
__________________
Property is not ability. Buying a drumset won't make you a drummer and buying gear won't make you an engineer.
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31st January 2011
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#8 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Seattle
Posts: 40
Thread Starter |
My bio dad offered very little to me but this twist of logic:
"To do what you love to do for a living is obscene."
I've been doing what I love for 40 years. For 40 years I've been looking for an answer to this messed up bit of information that came from what could be Mr. Spock's, from Star Trek, brother in logic.
I found he was right. This is why I have a manager. He doesn't love what I do. He know's what my time is worth. I think that was father's point. If nothing else, it has inspired many debates.
Balance huh, emotion balances with logic. Messed up but right.
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16th February 2011
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#9 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2009 Location: Recording Studio Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 1,764
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If I do this for another 40 years, then I'd consider myself v. blessed. considering I'll be over 70+ by then.
@op Thanks for sharing, for me, it really puts a light on how fast time flies and how precious time and life is. You'd wanna spend it doing what you love and sharing what you have with people that are close to you.
I've found being in the music industry a blessing but a burden on personal relationships. It's been a long road with many humps and bumps.
I think persistence and financial stability has a major part in going for 40 years in the industry. That's 50% of your life for most people.
I try to keep a positive/honest mindset and not be too critical and serious about myself - as that can take the fun and creativity out of what I do. I work best when I'm relaxed and at peace/in the zone.
Great thread btw.
Regards
Josef horhay
Mixing Engineer www.acoosticzoo.com | |
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18th March 2011
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#10 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Seattle
Posts: 40
Thread Starter |
Honor & Integrity are the key elements Josef. Keep those before you & it'll all work out ...you may not be able to hear at 70+ but what the heck ...just CRANK IT! Scott Spain Recording Engineer | |
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19th March 2011
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#11 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2010 Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 1,660
| Quote:
Originally Posted by AcoosticZoo  I try to keep a positive/honest mindset and not be too critical and serious about myself - as that can take the fun and creativity out of what I do. I work best when I'm relaxed and at peace/in the zone. |
When I was first learning to play guitar, I read a magazine with quote from famous musicians. The only one I took away and still remember was from Nels Cline: "The enemy of inspiration is self-doubt." It wasn't until I started mixing that I realized how much that quote meant to me.
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21st March 2011
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#12 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2009 Location: Recording Studio Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 1,764
| Quote:
Originally Posted by s2_Audio Honor & Integrity are the key elements Josef. Keep those before you & it'll all work out ...you may not be able to hear at 70+ but what the heck ...just CRANK IT! Scott Spain Recording Engineer | People with integrity r awesome to wrok with. When people lie its very off putting. Do guys notices a lot of people love talking things up more than realty. In the end u catch them out. Lol. But I don't mention it to them that - let them save face. After all people's intention r good. They wanna be respected and admired thus resort to "over selling" them selves. Harmless fun imho.
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26th March 2011
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#13 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Seattle
Posts: 40
Thread Starter |
Yer right babe ...there is a fine line between selfless boasting and confidence. The real trick for anyone is to be able to tell the difference and you usually don't need to be Sir Aurthur Coleman Doyle to do so.
If you are not careful in your assessments however you can present as a self rightious punk and that will kill any attempt of interfacing with other people regardless of the intent of the person caring the socially questionable attitude
...other than other self rightious punks. Maybe they could gather and enjoy liquid refreshments that makes them feel they are cool ...would it be a hot drink??? Scott Spain <--- selfless promotion  | |
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26th March 2011
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#14 | | Gear Head
Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Seattle
Posts: 40
Thread Starter |
My favorite quote came from a producer I had the privilege of spending a few years working for. Bobby Monaco in his book 'Platinum Rainbow' said:
"It's alright to love this business as long as you realize it won't love you back." s2 | |
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14th July 2011
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#15 | | Gear interested
Joined: Jul 2011 Location: METRO-ATLANTA
Posts: 8
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...epic
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