assistant engineering

[mcfarlane_audio]

ive been asked to teach a guest lecture at a local recording arts school. ive got most of my material together, but i thought id put it out to you,

gimme a couple of things i should tell them about that most schools miss ( i assume this will also turn into a comedy thread of horror stories)

thanks much
-Brock-

 

[pucho812]

I would suggest you spend a good deal on how to make coffee. Seriously good coffee is key.

Other good things of note.

entenmann's coffee cake.
Cut it into small squares and leave in the lounge. That way an artist/engineer/producer can grab a nibble and go back into the studio to record. They are happy and such. Plus it leaves little to 0 crumbs. If you leave pieces that are bigger then you get crubs and takes longer to eat.

hmmm I 'll have a few others to mention later.

 

[theremin]

well for one audio maintenance

I went to a university for audio engineering and it seemed the bulk of my classes were basic curriculum like copyright law, a good bit of hands on in the studio(but never enough), and core classes for college. There was one elective for studio maintenance, but it was real basic and didnt get much into how audio electronics worked.

maybe give some basics on how amplifiers works, how compressors work, how EQs work etc. electronically and give them some understanding of what is going on and how to figure out how to avoid things like EMI, 60Hz hum, phase cancellation etc.

don't need to talk about your own great stories, every damned teacher does that already

S!
Jason

 

[bcarso]

[quote author="pucho812"] entenmann's coffee cake.
[/quote]

Well, yes. But providing some confection with powdered sugar allows for plausible deniability if other white powders leave visible residue. Although this doesn't do anything for erratic behavior and palpable bad vibes.

 

[mcfarlane_audio]

theyve got a pretty good maintenance teacher that is mandatory, so im going to try to steer awayish from that (itll be tough) especially seeing as one of the students was told by his audio engineering teacher that "The API desk in studio A is basically just a cheap neve knock off, i dont know why they have it , they should really get rid of it, so ill definitely have to touch on that, but basic troubleshooting is high on my list, to keep a session flowing and such, and identify the broken link

yes, coffee was #2 on my list after been seen and not heard,

 

[abby normal]

[quote author="pucho812"]I would suggest you spend a good deal on how to make coffee. Seriously good coffee is key.
[/quote]

Added:

1. How to take down orders for take out.

2. Understand how to move mic stand to the left or the right.

3. Learn how to stay away from producers or any artist on illicit substances particularly speed. (these could help you further you career in the magical world of professional recording).

4. learn that when they say "hey man we don't need you, go home and come back tomorrow" you need to run like hell or you will be repeating the process starting at step one at 6:00 AM.

 

[MHanson]

I would suggest you spend a good deal on how to make coffee. Seriously good coffee is key.

Scary, but this is such an easy thing and when forgotten bugs the heck out of me. Walk back to grab a cup and the pot is dry or the coffee is just awful.

I went to a university for audio engineering and it seemed the bulk of my classes were basic curriculum like copyright law, a good bit of hands on in the studio(but never enough), and core classes for college. There was one elective for studio maintenance, but it was real basic and didnt get much into how audio electronics worked.

Hmm. Sounds like most schools. It's all the basic stuff that nobody enjoys, but it's good to know about if this will be your business. Not necessary for an Asst. but good to know.

My expectations are very simple for assts.

1. Know how to keep your trap shut. If asked then answer, short and sweet.
2. If you don't know ASK, instead of doing what you think is right and screwing things up.
3. Make sure the coffee is good and always on.
4. Be aware of everything in the room, what's happening, what people need/want, etc. And try to stay ahead of it all.
5. I'd rather a kid that knows nothing about a studio and has a great attitude, and fun vibe, than one that thinks he knows it all and is an ass.

I'll take the time as I have it and show you everything I need.

6. If making sure the room is ready means coming in 5 hours early. Do it and love it. Hell, I'll actually come help/answer questions at times to make sure you're learning. Schedule providing.
7. DON'T ARGUE WITH ANYONE AND/OR START TALKING ABOUT HOW YOU LEARNED THE RIGHT WAY TO DO SOMETHING!!!!

I had this one recently, where I was informed I was doing something wrong and my short lived asst knew the right way of doing it and patched things up how he thought it should be, then argued with me. You can guess how that ended . . . . :twisted:


I guess summing it up, it's attitude and coffee. Typically the interns take care of the coffee, so, if your assisting, atleast for me, is all about the attitude.

How did any of us really learn? Someone liked us and spent some time mentoring us. All the real teaching truly comes on the job, not in a school. If you think you're going to learn everything you need in a school, you're screwed. It's just not going to happen.

 

[okgb]

yeah , signal flow & gain staging , but how to BE awake
know what's going on , what's really happening
people dynamics , [ are they getting agitated because they realized
the session is costing a bundle and they can't sing ? ]
People skills

 

[MikoKensington]

When my assistant started the most important words to come out of his mouth were, "No Problem."

ME: "I need you to take out the trash."

ASSISTANT: "No Problem!"

ME: "Will you restock all the mini fridges?"

ASSISTANT: "No Problem!"

Always enthusiastic. Always with a smile. Attitude can take you everywhere and nowhere. I often joke that he was the staff "go-to" guy. "Derek, I'm going to need you to go to the store for me."

He may not have known how to problem solve and troubleshoot some basic signal flow techniques, but he was more than willing to learn. He may not understand a lot of technical things. But he will. He wants too. He was smart enough to know that he doesn't know it all. That is the reason he's getting moved up soon.

I think that is a great way to sum up being the gofer. :green:

OH! By the way. You guys that need coffee around at all times...

http://www.keurig.com/aw/b200.asp?mscsid=QQVAKC5N5W348PSBGAGLPSJHTHSC5MNE

Get one of these. Always fresh and no waste. It ends up being about 40 cents a cup.

 

[mcfarlane_audio]

thanks so much guys this is going better than expected!! if i can make just make one future assistant better ill be happy :wink:

 

[DerEber]

You could serve different kinds of coffe, Filter, Espresso etc. to show the difference.
Try to get some realy bad one.

 

[Nadege]

I would also said that working in the studio is one of the best job in the world only if you are 100% in love whith what you're doing.

I would say that otherwise, it's the worst activity one can do: awfull schedules, very long and slow learning curve, horrible activity at the beginning (cleaning toilet, bring out the garbages, ...), very low $,..

But, When you love the sound and really want to do this job, it's incredibly rewarding, great people, very interresing,...

Nobody told me that when I was at school, and a lot of my class mate, came out of the school whith the idea they where "sound ingeneer" and from now they will only record and mix great music. That was a really hard step into "real life" for them as they where asked to shut their mout down and cleaning the toilet most of them have now quit the music world and are working as waiter, or whatever.

if you have the passion, do it, and you'll make a living of your activity. If you don't have the passion, you should think to another job. :twisted:

 

[okgb]

Right Miko , attitude [ good ] is vital
the guy you're working for may not give you a raise
but someone will . It's not an easy biz to make a profit
so if you cop a little bit of the " we all in it together "
vibe so you understand what's going on .

Loving what you do , you could do it at home or as a hobby
and save yourself allot of grief , but without it one may wonder
why am i doing this .

 

[Greg]

I think I will make a comment or two from another perspective...

Usually, budget does not allow me to have an assistant, but when it does I NEVER treat him/her like a piece of shit. And I generally get them involved in such a way to improve the "smoothness" of a session. Engineers/producers who have condescending attitudes towards assistants is a pet peeve of mine.

For example, if we are overdubbing guitars... knowing that vocals will be next... I'll have my assistant setup 2 or 3 mics and patch them all through the gear of my choice so the instant guitar overdubs are done, we can start on vocals. I'll take one minute out of my ever so important life of being a big time fancy engineer (that was sarcasm) and make coffee. As long as the assistant keeps me from running around the studio setting up and taking down mics/cables/amps/etc, then I'm happy and think he is doing a good job.

So... this is a long winded way of me saying that I think the main responsibility of an assistant is to keep the session running smoothly. This may include getting take out and taking out the trash. But to me, engaging and involving the assistant in the recording process is the way to go.

 

[amorris]

I think the most important thing an assistant needs to do is read the session. be proactive with the process like greg said, but he has to read the situation and step out of the way when need be. never comment on negatives or much else for that matter. but do everything nessesary to keep the engineer engineering. answer phones, keep an unofficial log of what is going on, tempos, keeper takes on which reels, so when questions are asked like "rememebr that take...." and if no one remembers, you can say "that was the first reel, not this one." make themselves invisible and indespensible.

 

[peterc]

I remember reading a comment in a mag or somewhere (Tapeop?) that the assistant should frequently monitor the cans mix & make sure the engineer knows if something changes.

I liked that idea a lot as it shows them how to set up can mixes & what the artist is hearing in the head.

Peter

 

[lofi]

its all just a hobby to me, i get assistants in and they dont know it...

i try to encourage bands to work with kids who want to engineer, then start asking leading questions to steer the engineer along the right lines if hes loosing it a bit, plus the studio only has to pay for its self, not my wage, so if its all going tits up i am more than happy to call a holt for the day and rearrange some 'free' hours another day.

its my job to make the coffee, most kids cant, and to practice people dynamics.

i also use SAWstudio as my DAW, they have never heard or used it before. It means that i can make subtle excuses for the engineer and take some of the weight off his shoulders.

 

[pucho812]

I have heard of SAW but never used it. Whats it like other then it runs on windows :?

Oh here is another. Take good documentations that way no matter what happens you can come close to the original or even back to the original.

For example I had an assistant the other day teach me a good one. He was writing up a track sheet and I noticed he wrote

OH Ft and OH HH

Obvious and simple but really good. That way when you mix weeks later left and right has not changed. I have often had session to mix where overheads were labeled left mic(Pan left) but were really the right side mic.

Also understanding of mics and being able to be ahead of the curve. I was working with a producer not too long ago where he informed me of the guitar session player coming in. I was like what does he usually bring so he tells me. I ask if we would be recording acoustic guitar and the producer said no. But the session player always brings one. So what happens sure enough after the player and the producer talk they decide to record an acoustic part. Well just so happens before I could go could we get some mics set up on the guitar, It was already done and with mics I would have picked for the sound they was looking for. All I had to really do was position the mics which they were close to begin with anyway.

Best Assistant I ever had did this...When we first met at the studio he didn't say Hi or shake my hand, He went right for the trash can and emptied it out. Then introduced himself and such.
:thumb:

Or like the guys @ Sear sound. I was there during AES and ended up talking with Walter Sear in his office for hours. I was drinking a coffee. One of his staff came in and gave him a message and we decided to split a cab back to the show. Well Anyway I get up and before I could turn around and get my mug to take it to the sink, It was already there. I didn't even get to see him grab it. I would have cleaned it myself but shit talk about service.
The Audio engineering profession is a service industry first and foremost. Have them remember that. The first/main engineer is there to serve the artist and producer, the assistant is there to serve the main engineer and so forth and so forth. Far to often engineers and studios forget that part of the equation.

Oh yeah and lastly. Always have a pair of earplugs on hand. They need not be expensive but have a good 23-33 DB of reduction. It's for Justin. Just in case the artist/producer or engineer bump the music loud. Just becuase they are killing their ears does not mean you have to.[/quote]

 

[lofi]

[quote author="pucho812"]I have heard of SAW but never used it. Whats it like other then it runs on windows :?
[/quote]

very analogue, lovely sounding engine, but the editing takes time to learn (when you do, its very fast though) and it written by a guy who is very dedicated. plus its only 4MB big and written in assembly so looses most of the windows crap.

 

[clintrubber]

I recall a recent article about slavery stating that in fact nowadays more people live in slavery than back then.

I was puzzled by this at first, but reading this thread makes me clear where they all are :wink: