If you have any funny/shitty stories on the matter- you should post
Today was just another learning experience like the last ones I've had- pretty funny...
I'll begin with my first in 2008. It was with a 40 y/o co-worker at Guitar Center. He had talked up his studio for months before he finally let me go there. Claimed he has worked for major label releases and had top notch equipment. He charged clients $65 an hour... His studio consisted of a towtruck trailer with studio foam, digi002, ada8000, shitty mics and everything else- his product sounded like disgusting AM radio mixed with Audacity quality effects. That was with all of his cracked waves plugs.
I remember sitting in on a session with some old dickhead recording his solo album. The owner awkwardly mic'd the guys shitty combo, instead of using their JCM2000 and matching cabnet... He threw a random sdc mic like 45 degrees off axis about 4 feet in front of the cabnet. And of course he didn't check anything, at all, tracks being armed properly or for phase... They hadn't had any form of communication regarding the songs placement, structure or anything. "Intro, bridge, chorus..." written poorly on a piece of paper. There was no talkback system- so when they needed to argue about what fucking random part they were trying to punch this guy in- the recovering meth addict that was "PT Certified" would have to lean over everything and slide the window open and describe the part while blasting the instrumental at the rest of us behind him in the mixing room. The owner just sat there with his arms folded in the open doorway between the two rooms silently nodding his head as if everything was running super smooth.
Then I had the ingenious idea of saying "Hey, instead of leaning over everything like you're doing- why don't you just set up a talkback system with 2 mics real quick... In fact why is he even in the other room when he could just be sitting in here with the rest of us so you don't have to argue about the song and just have him look at the whole project?"
I got looked at like I had made some smart ass comment "...Yeah that's a good idea- Soandso why don't you come in here and do that?"
So the old dude we're recording spouts off on some shit about how he's a MUSICIAN and not some sort of mathematician and that those squiggly lines didn't mean shit to him...
I got up and left. Last I heard, they were doing another major label.
I had an over the phone interview just a few months ago where this old asshole straight of yelled at me after asking if I knew what proximity meant and talked shit because I didn't know all the acronyms to all the fucking outdated shit he was using to record- when my original email said that I had no prior experience with any equipment he used. He used one of the original versions of digital performer and was completely astounded when I said I didn't know what "DP3" was... What the fuck- that could mean a dozen other products... He had a nice place- but his product sounded like shit- he had a more analog approach, but it didn't even sound good for the whole old-school vibe he was trying to get- AND he hadn't worked with anyone that was as creditable as he said he had. Which google couldn't even find.
Today was another swing and a miss. A guy posted on craigslist that he was looking for 1-2 serious unpaid internships. We played a 3 day game of phone tag and whenever I actually got a hold of him, we would only speak for a few minutes before he would randomly admittedly hang up on me mid sentence... In his post he said that he had integrated a console with logic pro- I use cubase and do everything itb so I was anxious to see how that would turn out after reading up and watching tutorials on how to do basic things in logic, since I assumed I would be put on the spot and potentially thrown into everything to show what I had to offer. We agreed that I would come by after work. I show up and walk in on the owner and other intern smoking a bowl and they both jump out of their chairs and hide the pipe under a pile of porn and garbage. A picture of a girl with a fat fucking dick just chilling on her face... ANYWAY. Fail. The guy ASKS me who I am, like we hadn't spoken, without giving me enough time to introduce myself- without making eye contact with me... The intern proceeds to show me the studio, which was nice. Besides the porn, garbage and SHITTY ludwig kit he was using- this was a pretty nice looking place. Outside of those rooms was shit. Exposed drywall and rotting wood and more porn and cigarette butts.
The guy finally got up and looked at my face and shook my hand after saying "you remind me of The Rev- I hella was his sponsor in AA before he passed away" I'm a ginger- I don't look like him at all, not hair, nothing. He proceeded sit down at dick around on Logic- which I almost immediately came to discover that I knew more about using Logic than he did. Literally, like I'm not being a smartass or anything. The guy was literally laughing about how he didn't know how to save the session or add and arm tracks, while smoking a cigarette and blowing it right into his gear.
The other intern, who had no recording experience whatsoever, and I spent over an hour watching the owner slowly fuck around with Logic trying to find out how to rename the tracks. I told him to simple double click and he wouldn't listen until he discovered it on his own after accidentally opening Safari and other random shit LOL "naw man Macs are badass"
Your typical 30 something tattooed rocker guy who thinks AX7 is the best band ever.
He was "a month past deadline" with a "major label" project he was working on. The one that was tracking the drums was the intern that was ripped out of his mind who he had just met hours before me... Recording on a major label... On a shitty ludwig that wasn't fully mic'd or even with half the cables plugged in (the owner was unaware of this and had to be told by the stoned intern)
The best part of all was that he showed me that he had helped produce Black Veil Brides- I almost died.
The guy was nice- and seemed comfortable with me. But this doesn't seem promising at all. Like at all. I don't even want to know how much bullshitting I'd have to sit through before we'd be able to utilize this place.
I'm just disappointed, rather than intimidated and intrigued like I feel and intern should be.
I in no way mean to come off like I'm being cocky- I just want to learn and be given the opportunity to learn from someone who knows what they are doing. Regardless- I'm still going to do my own thing- but is this even worth the commute? This was straight up bar bathroom status filth. I'm debating whether or not to follow up. We barely talked at all about actually recording because the guy was busy talking to himself while trying to figure out his own shit. He made it out like he was looking for interns that wouldn't waste his time, but I feel like my time was the time that was wasted... idk
Anyway, I'd like to hear your opinions and funny stories too hahaha
Today was just another learning experience like the last ones I've had- pretty funny...
I'll begin with my first in 2008. It was with a 40 y/o co-worker at Guitar Center. He had talked up his studio for months before he finally let me go there. Claimed he has worked for major label releases and had top notch equipment. He charged clients $65 an hour... His studio consisted of a towtruck trailer with studio foam, digi002, ada8000, shitty mics and everything else- his product sounded like disgusting AM radio mixed with Audacity quality effects. That was with all of his cracked waves plugs.
I remember sitting in on a session with some old dickhead recording his solo album. The owner awkwardly mic'd the guys shitty combo, instead of using their JCM2000 and matching cabnet... He threw a random sdc mic like 45 degrees off axis about 4 feet in front of the cabnet. And of course he didn't check anything, at all, tracks being armed properly or for phase... They hadn't had any form of communication regarding the songs placement, structure or anything. "Intro, bridge, chorus..." written poorly on a piece of paper. There was no talkback system- so when they needed to argue about what fucking random part they were trying to punch this guy in- the recovering meth addict that was "PT Certified" would have to lean over everything and slide the window open and describe the part while blasting the instrumental at the rest of us behind him in the mixing room. The owner just sat there with his arms folded in the open doorway between the two rooms silently nodding his head as if everything was running super smooth.
Then I had the ingenious idea of saying "Hey, instead of leaning over everything like you're doing- why don't you just set up a talkback system with 2 mics real quick... In fact why is he even in the other room when he could just be sitting in here with the rest of us so you don't have to argue about the song and just have him look at the whole project?"
I got looked at like I had made some smart ass comment "...Yeah that's a good idea- Soandso why don't you come in here and do that?"
So the old dude we're recording spouts off on some shit about how he's a MUSICIAN and not some sort of mathematician and that those squiggly lines didn't mean shit to him...
I got up and left. Last I heard, they were doing another major label.
I had an over the phone interview just a few months ago where this old asshole straight of yelled at me after asking if I knew what proximity meant and talked shit because I didn't know all the acronyms to all the fucking outdated shit he was using to record- when my original email said that I had no prior experience with any equipment he used. He used one of the original versions of digital performer and was completely astounded when I said I didn't know what "DP3" was... What the fuck- that could mean a dozen other products... He had a nice place- but his product sounded like shit- he had a more analog approach, but it didn't even sound good for the whole old-school vibe he was trying to get- AND he hadn't worked with anyone that was as creditable as he said he had. Which google couldn't even find.
Today was another swing and a miss. A guy posted on craigslist that he was looking for 1-2 serious unpaid internships. We played a 3 day game of phone tag and whenever I actually got a hold of him, we would only speak for a few minutes before he would randomly admittedly hang up on me mid sentence... In his post he said that he had integrated a console with logic pro- I use cubase and do everything itb so I was anxious to see how that would turn out after reading up and watching tutorials on how to do basic things in logic, since I assumed I would be put on the spot and potentially thrown into everything to show what I had to offer. We agreed that I would come by after work. I show up and walk in on the owner and other intern smoking a bowl and they both jump out of their chairs and hide the pipe under a pile of porn and garbage. A picture of a girl with a fat fucking dick just chilling on her face... ANYWAY. Fail. The guy ASKS me who I am, like we hadn't spoken, without giving me enough time to introduce myself- without making eye contact with me... The intern proceeds to show me the studio, which was nice. Besides the porn, garbage and SHITTY ludwig kit he was using- this was a pretty nice looking place. Outside of those rooms was shit. Exposed drywall and rotting wood and more porn and cigarette butts.
The guy finally got up and looked at my face and shook my hand after saying "you remind me of The Rev- I hella was his sponsor in AA before he passed away" I'm a ginger- I don't look like him at all, not hair, nothing. He proceeded sit down at dick around on Logic- which I almost immediately came to discover that I knew more about using Logic than he did. Literally, like I'm not being a smartass or anything. The guy was literally laughing about how he didn't know how to save the session or add and arm tracks, while smoking a cigarette and blowing it right into his gear.
The other intern, who had no recording experience whatsoever, and I spent over an hour watching the owner slowly fuck around with Logic trying to find out how to rename the tracks. I told him to simple double click and he wouldn't listen until he discovered it on his own after accidentally opening Safari and other random shit LOL "naw man Macs are badass"
Your typical 30 something tattooed rocker guy who thinks AX7 is the best band ever.
He was "a month past deadline" with a "major label" project he was working on. The one that was tracking the drums was the intern that was ripped out of his mind who he had just met hours before me... Recording on a major label... On a shitty ludwig that wasn't fully mic'd or even with half the cables plugged in (the owner was unaware of this and had to be told by the stoned intern)
The best part of all was that he showed me that he had helped produce Black Veil Brides- I almost died.
The guy was nice- and seemed comfortable with me. But this doesn't seem promising at all. Like at all. I don't even want to know how much bullshitting I'd have to sit through before we'd be able to utilize this place.
I'm just disappointed, rather than intimidated and intrigued like I feel and intern should be.
I in no way mean to come off like I'm being cocky- I just want to learn and be given the opportunity to learn from someone who knows what they are doing. Regardless- I'm still going to do my own thing- but is this even worth the commute? This was straight up bar bathroom status filth. I'm debating whether or not to follow up. We barely talked at all about actually recording because the guy was busy talking to himself while trying to figure out his own shit. He made it out like he was looking for interns that wouldn't waste his time, but I feel like my time was the time that was wasted... idk
Anyway, I'd like to hear your opinions and funny stories too hahaha
