studio internships

[badperson]

Hi,

I'm thinking that sometime this year I'd like to do a studio internship. I can't quit my job, so I can only do this on the weekends.

Is it common for people to assist on the weekends? Have any of you guys had internships? What should I know/be comfortable with beforehand? Should I think about a course or two?
I know I won't get an internship at avatar, but mid-level good sounding room somewhere.

bp

[Calvin]

Just don't expect to be let on the equipment. They will after they know that you know what your doing, allow you on the equipment, but only when they don't have any business. It could take a while to get their trust. I wish you all the luck. Even if you just sit there the entire time they are in the studio, you will get something out of the experience. I know I did.

[silence_of_stone]

expect to be a gopher, waiter, janitor, receptionist before anything fun starts happening!!

[Ssaidvox1]

Hey,
I recently graduated from the conservatory of recording arts in arizona. Part of our program was to complete a 280 hour internship. To be a useful intern, I suggest checking the gear page at the studio you are interested in. Make sure you know how to run all of it, or at least understand its signal flow. Buy some manuals, or download them offline. A common thing that an intern will be responsible for is to "zero" out the board, or the room. Which basically just means returning everything to its default, or zero value, and cleaning up. A control room/proper should look the same way it did the first day it lit up after every session. Make sure you are willing to be the food run guy, clean toilets, and all the other stuff you hear them say. However, I don't believe in allowing people to take advantage of you, and that has been known to happen in some studios. This, uh, guy I know was once asked to make a coke run for a client..after declining, he found people at the certain studio to be a little more abrasive. But at the same time, make yourself as useful as possible...clean the trash before anyone asks you to, yadda yadda. Not all studios are horror places for interns. My second internship was at a wonderful pro tools studio, and the engineers turned the room over to me some days after just two weeks. To wrap this pointless garble up...just make sure you have a good understanding of the gear in the studio you are applying for, and be willing to be a low guy for a little while. Be a useful intern, and expect to learn a hell of a lot from a seasoned professional. Hope this helped [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Feel free to e-mail me if you have any more questions about preparing

[metaltim]

considering what you guys have said, would it be wise for to me act on this situation.

A co-worker of mine from my job last semester opened up a studio. He knows of my interest as well in the whole recording scheme of things. Would it be wise to work with him, well it may not be work cause he might not pay me, but being in there when he's doing stuff. When it comes down to it, he would let me do a lot of stuff, cause he's known me, knows I am a responsible person, and have some of this equipment of my own.

so basically, this would get me my first experience in the field, and I most likely wouldn't be doing all this janitor/waitor/receptionist bs you guys are talking about.

Would I, in theory, be able to skip all this, since my first job in the field would actually be hands on?

or is it still not gonna matter, in other words, when/if I go work for a big, 'real' studio, I'll do all this stuff anyways.

I guess my question is, how much experience do companies look for to know that you can handle stuff on your own, and don't have to be just the errand boy?

[Carl Fuehrer]

I have run a few internship porgrams at commercial facilities. I fisrt start everyone off cleaning and working phones for a few week until they know how we run and who's around. The cleaning part shows me who's really into it. If you do a good job cleaning the facility I can expect you to respect the studio and the gear.

Next I have them sit in on a few medium sessions to let them see how they run and how (how not) to interact with clients.

After that I will being them to the board and show them patching and micing. I don't let them do anything on th board until they learn how to recall and reset the consoles. I do try to explain to them everything I am doing and why i do it and what other options they might have in a certain case.

All that time I see what the person knows and understand and see if I want to keep them around. I think of it as investing virtual money in someone.

[badperson]

what about the time thing? I can't afford to quit my job.

Is someone coming in on weekends helpful to you?

thanks.

[Carl Fuehrer]

Oh yes! Especially nowadays that I am working on my own studio. Evenings and weekend is when small places get most of there work. Even when I was in commercial studios, my interns usually only worked evenings and weekends.

[Ssaidvox1]

I guess my question is, how much experience do companies look for to know that you can handle stuff on your own, and don't have to be just the errand boy?

Tim,
I just opened a studio, only 2 months ago, and ive had a flood of interns who would like to come in...for me to let someone run the gear, if they had a demo reel that was pretty good, and knew how to run the gear in my specific studio...I'd give them a shot right off the bat. But that's just me [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Dunno bout others [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] If you go to a studio that has no idea who you are, chances are youll be an assistant or an intern. Not many places just throw you in the chair. But yea, I say take the opportunity. Never pass up on a session you can be involved in. you can always learn something new.

[iplaymusicsoftly]

Just because I can't refuse some shameless self promotion...If anyone out there is looking for a fully trained audio recording technician with experience, let me know. I am a grad of OIART and I am willing to relocate.
Thank you and goodnight! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]