From: cullen@ac.dal.ca
Newsgroups: rec.audio.pro
Subject: Re: Turning pro - getting an audio-related job
Date: 17 Dec 92 02:45:38 GMT
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Logan Shaw writes:

> Well, here I am, and for various reasons, I might be looking for some type
> of job in the near future (or maybe not, depending on school and other
> things).
 
> So, the thought occurs to me:  Rather than just doing something that I hate
> and that bleeds the life right out of me, like data entry (which I've done
> before), why not get a job that I might find interesting?  So, now I have
> some questions about audio related jobs.
 
> What kinds of jobs are available that have to do with audio, and how much
> education / experience do the jobs require?  Jobs I know of:  DJ-ing (self
> employed kinda situation, no?),
No experience required, no audio knowledge required. However, you
have to have a knack for programming.
 
> touring with a band and running sound for them,
Depending on the personality and budget of the band, you will have to
know anywhere between nothing about audio and everything about audio.

> salesman in a music or stereo store, 
> installer of audio equipment (like for a high-end home audio store).
High end home audio mainly involves positioning speakers in the client's living
room and connecting patch cords for everything. It can, however, get involved
if you start doing things like putting in-wall speakers in and running hidden 
speaker cable. Possible basic construction and electrical code knowledge
required.

There is also the PA system installation business, which requires electrical
code knowledge, possibly building code knowledge, how to properly wire
equipment racks, some electronics knowledge, operation and testing of the
equipment.

A closely related field is PA technician, who is the guy who works for the
PA company and goes out with the rig to ensure that the system is properly 
set up and does field and maybe shop repairs of the equipment. This requires
the most technical knowledge, IMO. He may also do monitors, or mix,
and then he has to have ears, as well.

Recording engineer: In charge of capturing a recording session on tape.
Has to know how all the equipment works, ect, but doesn't have to fix
anything. For this you either go to school and then do it, go for
coffee for 5 years then do it, or worst case, go to school, get coffee
for 5 years, then do it.

Maintenance engineer: The guy in the studio who takes care of everything,
such as installation, maintenance, etc. Somewhat like a PA tech, but probably
has a more formal education.

 
> Here are my qualifications:

>   I am working on a degree in Computer Science, so I know how to use computers.
 
>   I have worked with small PA systems for a few years, almost exclusively
> at churches, but also some at my high school, so I know how to use them,
> set them up, and tear them down.
 
>   I've even run sound for a professional musician once, and I got a free
> t-shirt out of it.  :-)
 
>   I have sung in choirs and played piano with a small musical group, so
> I know about music and what performers want and need.

Sounds like a good keyboard tech/Midi expert to me, folks.
 
>   I recently bought the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook and discovered
> I knew alot of the information in it already.
 
>   I know some of the basics of electronics, but don't dare ask me to design
> a circuit for you, unless you want me to make it entirely of NAND gates.
> (I took a single EE course...)
 
>   I *don't* know how to convince singers to hold microphones correctly.
AHHH, a technique I've mastered. Take the offending singer to a club
where the act can use the mic, then go to a really bad sounding club where 
the act concidentally can't use the mic. Point out the difference in sound 
quality, and the way the singer holds the mic, and let them draw their own
conclusions. 8-)
  
>   I'm not sure I can restrain myself from killing any performer who decides
> to put the microphone down on top of the main speakers when exiting the
> stage area.
That's OK,  as an alternative, take the stand that he's conveniently left
unused, and beat him over the head with it.8-)
 
> Is the job market hard to break into?  Would I have to do tons of grunt
> work (loading and unloading trucks, etc.) before I could go on to something
> even slightly interesting?  How would I go about getting a job?  Are there
> agencies for this?  How can I get started?  Where can I expect to go with
> it?  If it's important, I live in Austin, which has a thriving live music
> scene.

I'll give you a brief synopsis of my "career" so far for what its worth.8-)
I started in Grade 10, in the music program at school. I was the one who 
happened to figure out how our simple rented pa worked, and so got the job of
setting it up. In grade 12, the school bought a pa, and my 2 years experience
meant that I got to mix the Jazz Choir twice a week for 9 months. (Mix 101)
I also became the school DJ and got my first soldering lessons, making
adapters to connect RCA jacks to quarter inch.

The summer between high school and college, I travelled with friends of 
mine, who had a band. I was their so-called sound man, and learned quite a 
bit on music store equipment.

When I got to college, I started to work for the Student Union, where
I still work, 4 years later. Dal started to intensively book bands
just about the time I arrived, so I teched (grunted) all the big shows,
that were outside contracts. At the same time, we started buying real
PA for our pub, and I sort of grew with the system. At the same time, 
working all our big shows, running small shows, and packaging our PA,
I got to know most of the local people in the scene, dealers and production
companies, as well as a lot of bands. When the production companies got
caught short, they'd call looking for me, and I've spent the last couple
of summers exclusively doing sound.

There is another important thing. You have to get some education in
the audio end of things somewhere, either in a recording/production
school, or on your own. The Yamaha book is a good start, but you need
more in-depth books. For example:
	Sound Recording Handbook, John Woram.
	Sound System Engineering, Davis & Davis
	The Audio Cyclopedia, H.M. Tremaine
	(This is very out of date, but still very informative
and provides basic info on a wide range of topics. My copy is 
the 2nd Ed., 1969)

These titles are all published by Sams, but there are others out there, I
just can't think of any.8-)

Also, read the trade mags, like:
	Mix
	EQ
	Studio Sound and Broadcast Engineering
	Pro Sound News

Hope this helps in your (and anyone else's) search for information.
						Mur
						Cullen@ac.dal.ca
						Cullen@ug.cs.dal.ca