Getting into the recording industry

  • Thread starter Thread starter dgroove
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dgroove

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What's the best way of going about this? School I'm sure.
What type school? Oh wait, recording school. Are they usally
trade schools or do some local college's offer course's?
What's the cost? How long? and so on.

I've been working in the printing industry for 13 years and
I can't stand it anymore. Music is what I love to do.
Playing it, trying to record it and talking about it.
I live in the Los Angeles area so I'm sure there plenty of
place's to learn and hopefully get work.

I would rather ask people here than to talk to a school that just
want's my money telling me what I want to hear. I've seen the
Career Connection, you go in as an intern learning for free.
They claim most places hire them because they all ready know
their operation. Has anyone done this or know anything about it?
It sound to good to be true.

Any info at all would be nice.

Dan
 
Since you are older you might be able to take some short cuts. What kind of experience do you have? Are you very confident in your recording skills? Do you have any good demo recordings?
 
I have very little experience. I'm not very confident right now.
As far as good demos, not yet we're just gettin stared

It's only in the past few months that I've gotten some decent
equipment. It's old but I've been told that it's not too bad.
Mackie CR1604 and a couple of Tascams DA-38s. I do have
stuff recorded on a Br8 which are not that good.
At the time those recordings serve they're purpose.

I started doing it for the band I'm in using some of their equip
and mine, which wasn't/isn't much.

It's safe to say that I am truly a newbie.
 
Several things to consider...

1. What market are you going after? I assume LA has some multi-million dollar facilities that smaller operations just cannot compete with. It may be a good idea to identify who you want to attract in your market area and cater to those needs. A well developed business plan targeting a specific need goes a long way.

2. Platform? There are more and more recording platforms from which to choose. The big operations don't need to worry about deciding, but us smaller operations do! Are you looking at analog or digital..if digital, DAW or machine format...if DAW, then ProTools, Samplitude, or Logic...if machine, Tascam, Mackie, or whatever...will mixing/processing be analog or digital? See what I mean? There are bazillions of variables, and many systems are proprietary...There's also mics, preamps, room conditioning, etc.

3. Networking? How will you get the word out about your service? Advertising, word of mouth, web presense...all can help, but having a million dollars worth of gear doesn't mean anything if your target group does not know you exist.

4. MOST IMPORTANT: Talent? Are you any good at it? With your current setup, you have the basics to make some VERY good recordings...some decent mics, a couple of compressors, mid-grade effects, and something to mix down to are all you need to make a very good demo.

I suggest you find everyone you know in the performaing world, and offer to record their demo for little/no cost to get your recording chops up...experiment...find out exactly what tweaking a 3dB boost at 1K actually does to a voice...

Go for it...if it doesn't work, sell it and move on...if it does, then you have accomplished something that 98% of the world just dreams about!

But that's just my opinion...good luck!
 
some places require you to take their courses in order to even apply at their studio. Depends on the studio. Do you want to work at someone elses studio or record on your own? If you wanna do it on yor own you're gonna end up spending lots and lots of money. To get a jo at a studio internships do help. But there is competition, at least in New York for internships even.
 
Some of those schools will leave you broke and bent over. Gotta be careful - I know they promise the world, but what you really need is experience.

I think this is an excellent way to do it, and you are in a prime location:

Los Angeles Pierce College (Woodland Hills) they offer a certificate program in Electronic Music Production. They have a small studio there with mackie boards and some great outboard gear. They just got a nice budget increase and will be adding a digital board and Pro Tools. Currently, they use Cubase/Nuendo on PC and Digital Performer on Mac. This is a great program if you are new to MIDI, or you need to polish your MIDI chops.


Los Angleles Valley College (Van Nuys) - they offer a Recording Technician certificate. This is a little more of an in depth recording program (mics - mixers - recorders) as opposed to Pierce leaning a little more towards the computer aided stuff.

Most of the classes are 3 units. Some are 2 or 1. You just can't beat it at $11 a unit. And most of the teachers are industry pros who really know what they are doing. Both are good programs (although, if you are interested in the Pierce program, let me know because there is one professor you want to steer away from).

You get the education at a good price and good experience, IMHO.


Brad
 
Thanks for the replys.

I would like to learn and work for someone else then
maybe after ten years or so in the business then maybe
try my own thing. If there is enough money in working for
someone then I would most likely stick with that.

What is the demand? How much work is really out there?
As with any industry the better you the more in demand
you are. Can anyone tell me what average income is?
It's not a deciding factor, I've been getting by in printing
for years so why not get by or do well doing something I like?

I nice to find out that Pierce has a program. I live
about mile from Pierce but is it sounds like Valley
is probably what I should consider.

Thanks again everyone.

Dan
 
dgroove said:
What is the demand? How much work is really out there?
As with any industry the better you the more in demand
you are. Can anyone tell me what average income is?
It's not a deciding factor, I've been getting by in printing
for years so why not get by or do well doing something I like?
Click to expand...

Usually there is a high demand for dependable and experienced engineers. You just have to make sure the people who hire know to call you if you want to do free lance.

Starting wages are around $10 an hour and if you do it for ten years you might get $25!!! Obviously the money isn't the reason to get into the business. A really good 10yrs+ experienced engineer can make around $50-70k working for a good production company or getting some juicy road gigs. If you start your own company you can make more. 6 day 50-70hour weeks are pretty common.

But I know many guys who have done it for 20yrs and barely pull in $30k a year. Most of that depends on how business savvy you are.

Brad gave you some good suggestions. You can also get hired pretty easily to load in large shows if you find a company that supplies labor to different concert venues. That's a good way to get started, make contacts and get paid while you learn.
 
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