I want to be an engineer.

I make beer now, and have always wanted to be in music. Go figure; we drink, we listen, we want.

I don't know the first thing, but I am interested. What do I do? Where do I go? Any and all advice is welcome.

Mark

Intern_8033,

It is not a matter of 'want' for me. It was something I was brought to do. Not necessarily needed for breathing, but a good boost for it. I don't know where the notion came from. I stopped sleeping when I was eleven. I became interested in AC/DC when I was twelve. Then I started messing around in a machine-boy sort of sexual way at a young age and now I am 23 doing basically the same thing.

I will put every last effort and dime into it. It is something I could do when I am blind and in case I go deaf, I study electronics. I might never make a living at it, but it doesn't owe me one.

Maybe, Andrew, I will become a farmer. I will still have a setup in my barn though, and find the best possible way to mic an utter or an udder, in a non-sexual way, unless the cow has some idea that the sexual way will better her performance.

Find the Crass reference and I will buy you monkey soap.

-Mike

At first I just wanted to record my own songs. I was having a jolly old time recording my songs, and soon became interested in fidelity.
Then I wanted to see what it would be like to record other people's songs. It was also fun. I realized I would be extremely happy if I could do this my whole life. So I went to school for it, did it all the time, and kept having more fun. Engineering is a perfect fusion of science and art, there is really no other profession like it. There are so many things to tickle one's fancy, and it seems like the deeper I get into into, the more there is to learn. Acoustics, electronics, recording techniques, hogloads of fascinating gadgets, tools and devices. Mics that look like mice. And to be able to document a musical moment in time is a good feeling.

I’d say I got into this business to make a living doing something that I find rewarding and challenging, the same reason a lot of people choose their professions. When I was in college, a lot of my older friends graduated with various liberal arts degrees. Most of them invariably either went on to graduate school with the end goal of teaching/researching, or they entered the job market in a field in which they may or may not have had any direct training. I didn’t really envision myself being in school for the rest of my life, and I figured I could always find a job somewhere or teach myself a science or something pragmatic. I recognized sound recording as something that fascinated and inspired me and that I might even have some aptitude for, so I quit school and immersed myself in the recording studio. The processes of interning and assisting and engineering are a lot like going to school, I think, with the added bonus that your efforts may have some tangible results. There’s little security in this profession; still it beats banking or pushing pencils any day of the week.

As a listener, few things bother me more than hearing good music mired by poor engineering or, even worse, someone’s deliberate effort to mark the recording with their particular stamp or “sound.” I want to concentrate on the music, not the production tricks or recording techniques. My basic goal as an engineer is: don’t fuck it up. It’s the musicians’ music to ruin. The engineer should be impartial and forthright. If his opinion is desired, he should speak it honestly (and you don’t necessarily have to be a dick to say that you don’t like something, though it can be a lot of fun). The cream will eventually float to the top, and so will the shit, whatever that means.

-greasygoose

As I understand it, you will "fuck up" something at some point. If not I guess you're god.

-Mike

How did you become an engineer?

What is the best way?

Is it going to a school like Full Sail, or going straight to a studio and learning there?

pretty much every engineer i think is good started by getting a reel-reel 8 track and learning themselves, and recording bands for beer in thier basement. i have followed the same path and i'm getting close to thinking i may be a "real engineer" soon. get a day job so you can afford said recording things. you can learn at your own speed and spend endless time learning the ins and outs of your stuff. of course there are tons of benefits to straight up interning, one disadvantage (from what i gather and have experienced) is you don't get quite as much hands on time with the stuff, which is what really matters. the studio is kind of hesitant to risk thier paying clients on letting "the intern" do too much, understandably so.

at any rate, the commonality between engineers that i think are good and what they've done - seem to never include going to recording school, in substitution recording as much as possible in ghetto ass situations with limited means while you learn your stuff in and out.

hope that helps.

or, put more succinctly by jack endino here:

http://www.endino.com/faq.html#edu

Thanks for the advice.

I have started tinkering with Cool Edit on my PC, and have been wondering about Pro Tools. What is the verdict on that one?

My interest has been intensified because i have been transferring vinyl and tapes to CD with Cool Edit. I know tweaking a pre-recorded song is a far cry from engineering, but i think it is a start.

The reel to reel 8-track, where do you find something like that? I understand what you mean by learning on your own. Any other important stuff to have? Good mics? Sound proofing? etc.

i'm not the guy to talk about computer recording stuff. i have cool edit and use it for making rough mixes and stuff.... you should get yourself a free subscription to tapeop magazine, and start hanging out on the message board here:

http://www.tapeop.com

theres a computer recording forum and all the questions you asked are talked about a lot over there too - you'll find a lot of people in the same boat you're in.

for 8 tracks, you can do ebay, or better yet, the buy/sell thread at tapeop - the people there are generally much more trustworthy than an everyday ebayer.

some people love pro tools. in the interim maybe i'd download pro tools LE or whatever the free one is. but i'd think before buying any more inputs to your soundcard. pretty soon you'll want to record on more tracks simultaneously - and you could spend 5-800 for one of those A/D interfaces, or just get a tape machine... the correct answer for you will pop up eventually. i asked myself where i wanted to be in 5 years - running a 2" or running a computer (which i already do), so i bought a tape machine. a 2" is just a super super fancy 8 track.

sounds like you're on the right track. get a mic and start recording stuff. you can learn a lot from just having 1 mic and recording 1 track at a time. you'll outgrow it, but it's a great place to start. ultimately yes, good mics and all that stuff become important, but the most important thing is to get experience with what you have.

if i were to start today, i'd buy an SM57 and a cable and start recording. (they're cheap, but decent enough to learn on. in comparison to tons of other mics, they aren't that hot, but for a first mic, i think it's a good choice. it's good to know what they sound like as a reference, so when you get your first condenser you'll understand the differences that much more.... and a ribbon and so on.

ultimately you're the most important part of the chain since you're gonna be pressing the buttons, so you gotta educate yourself! have fun w/it and welcome to the horribly addicting world of recording. turn back while you can!