The Great Gatsby Soundtrack: Special Edition

Posted on June 13, 2013 by CRAS

Based upon the 1925 literary work by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby is an interesting commentary on the lavish lifestyle of the rich and famous. The tale followed Nick Carraway in his travels seeking a true purpose in existence, and his interactions with Jay Gatsby prove that there is more to life than being rich and decadent. Relaunched in 2013, The Great Gatsby was reworked into a modern film, and lived up to its name by grossing over $100M in its first month at the box offices.

The soundtrack, as can any soundtrack to a film, provided an important and interesting perspective on the classic tale. Produced by Jay-Z, of the coincidentally ironic Roc-A-Fella Records (a cheeky tie-in to the Rockefeller dynasty) the album spared no expense, including many famous modern artists from Jack White of the White Stripes, to Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Ray, Gotye and of course, Beyonce.

To add to the ostentatiousness of the entire production, Third Man Records, which is Jack White’s record label, decided to release what can only be considered the most avante garde, flamboyant display of aural production in modern history. They decided to do a small run of 100 gold and platinum metallic discs, which you would of course only want to play on your diamond encrusted turntables. Supposedly this is the first time ever that vinyl records have been given this treatment, and at $250 for the set, I’d hope that they sound as good as they look!

The double disc special edition contains 17 total tracks, and will be housed in a custom laser-cut wooden jacket with riveted aluminum spines. Monday saw the release of the standard, 180 gram version that us peasants can afford, and is only merely gold foil stamped. Looking at the special edition version, you can tell a lot of time was spent in the design and planning of the package – they even decided to include cotton gloves to preserve the luster and quality of the discs while being handled, although a note included in the package states “While these records are absolutely playable on most turntables, if you are concerned about the life of your set, we do not recommend heavy rotation”!

These discs are already burning up eBay, with the first set I found at a current price of $550!

I have also come across information that one of our CRAS Grads, Warren Babson, actually contributed some work to this album too! After graduating from the Conservatory in 2008 with a 4.0 GPA, Warren has done quite a bit of work, getting Assistant Engineer and Engineering credits on albums by Estelle, Justin Bieber, Gucci Mane, and Musiq Soulchild. He was also present in some of the engineering for the soundtrack of Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie. For The Great Gatsby, Warren mixed “Where The Wind Blows”, by Coco O. of Quadron! Congratulations Warren!

Grad Spotlight Follow Up: Eric Nichols

Posted on June 10, 2013 by CRAS

In a previous post, we mentioned CRAS Grad Eric Nichols. Eric started his audio career training at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in October of 2010. Since then he has been constantly working in various fields, and has recently landed a pretty sweet gig! While he spent a lot of his time doing radio and live sound, he recently got accepted as Associate Producer with Learfield Sports in Missouri. We recently caught up with him, and here is his report from his first week on the job!

“Aside from a very nice welcome package waiting for me on my studio chair (flash drive, new bag, receptionist greeting card and more), I was put to work almost right away learning the ropes after reintroducing myself to people I met during my interview.

“I was in charge of getting all radio stations hooked up with radio station personalized liners for football season. YES! Football season starts the day after the national championship game. So I will get scripts and send them to all the play-by-play guys to read for the local stations. I am also writing and producing some of the football promos for all Universities, 2 generic and one custom…so we have to research new coaches, players up for the Heisman award and things like that to see what is going on with each football program!

“The only sports going on right now is NCAA Baseball Tournament action. Compared to Football and Basketball, its very slow going and long hours with rain delays, double headers and the loser’s bracket. But it’s a great time to learn how to get your feet wet. For the most part I setup the computers and the ISDN satellite lines for that days games. A software called Sky View runs the commercials when cued up with a mouse click. Then there is a great program called “highlight capture”. When the board operator hears a big play they can hit record and it starts recording 2 minutes BEFORE the point where you hit record, so nothing is cut off. Then the producer edits it down with fades in and out, and a vocal compressor. Sometimes (especially during basketball) you gotta be a super quick editor to get the highlights on in time if requested!

“We also record every broadcast for archiving purposes in Adobe Audition. A few play by play people request highlights for the next day’s game or for morning show sportscast.

“Like almost every other profession, bad stuff happens. We have stations who on their side lose the broadcast, so we have phone lines for each university ready to go so they can run the game off the phone line. It’s not as good as a satellite signal but its gets everyone’s commercials cleared and ran on the air!

“Usually if we “lose the satellite signal” for a game, it’s a quick redial of the ISDN line. It’s as quick as calling anyone on a cell phone, but it sounds like the old 56k dial up!

“I will say I am amazed how much the stuff I learned at CRAS makes me friends with the Chief Engineers since I speak their language. I think I am going to help with the installation of the new broadcast booths if allowed to!

“The company in general has blown me away with the hospitality of its employees. It’s a company everyone would enjoy. I met the CEO today and he said “let’s do lunch, I wanna get to know you.” I WAS FLOORED! But then again, he’s the guy who participated in the Learfield Harlem Shake video!

“Every signal also runs thru a DBX 160 with a 6:1 ratio…[Here at the Conservatory we have a DBX 160 in nearly every studio]

“As we prepare for Football season, I hear the work will be ungodly. There is hell week in August and I have been told to prepare my wife for not seeing me for that month. So many commercials to prepare and produce!”

It’s awesome to hear that things are working out so well for you, Eric! It takes a lot of work to get somewhere in the audio industry, a lot of patience and a lot of dedication. We can also see here that there is a lot more to the audio industry than just music, movies and television. The entire broadcast spectrum of the audio field is something a lot of people don’t think about! There are so many radio stations, live shows, sports games, car races and other live events that require all sorts of audio technicians – from the mics on stage, on the floor, to the producer’s desk, to the broadcast room and beyond!

CRAS Grad Panel Part 6 – The Finale

Posted on June 3, 2013 by CRAS

Following up on our Grad Panel post from yesterday, here is the continuation:

From left to right -

Jeremy Hinskton – A2 Engineer at Music Mix Mobile

Callie Thurman – Sound Dialogue Editor at Wildfire Post

Andrew Wuepper – Mix Engineer, Freelance

Maggie O’Brien – Production and Operations Manager at Blue Microphones

Eric Rennaker – Studio Manager at Bedrock LA

When we left off, we were going over what these grads look for in an intern. We will continue with tips and suggestions on how to be the best you can be, perhaps without even being seen.

Crowd Question: I just had a question about interning and being a new hire. I know the basics of it, like you guys are going through the whole better to be invisible kind of stuff. But from experience, do you know of any interns who had a wow factor? Like, I knew you were going to be good because of this, or I saw this in you that I didn’t see in someone else.

Maggie: That kid that pulled out a notebook was a stud in his interview. Then he knew our entire product line. He did stuff before I had even thought to ask for it. You have to make yourself a commodity. So many people are willing to intern, look at how many people are in this room. You’re all going to be an intern. But what’s going to make you stand out from everybody else? You need to find your niche and capitalize on it. And you need to find out who you are working for and what they are into. That’s the best advice. You have to people watch. Even to play on the invisibility factor, you’ll get curveballs. I worked at a private studio and when the engineer interviewed me, he was like listen, the artist is really artsy. He doesn’t like a lot of people, so when you meet him don’t talk to him. Just be invisible, be a fly on the wall. I pulled up into the driveway, and dude was sitting outside. They guy gives me a huge hug and I’m like I’m not supposed to talk to you! He invites me in for tea in his study and he’s showing me all his artwork and stuff. You just have to be ready for those things. Be quiet, but also pay attention and know when it’s OK to talk to those people. But I’d really say find your niche. If you can find out something that your boss loves and you can do that without them realizing it, or find out what they hate and never do that.

Andrew: That’s what I was going to say. Anticipating people’s needs. I had an assistant one time, and when I came in I asked for some coffee from Starbucks. I dunno, some iced Americano or something. And every day after that when I came in, that coffee was sitting by my Pro Tools rig. I mean, some of the days I didn’t want it, but the fact that he remembered that and it was just there…Just being able to see what people want, what they like, without having to ask them. Just knowing. That’s definitely a wow factor, those are the types of things that get you noticed. When I showed up and I saw the coffee, I was like oh shit! I didn’t ask for this but the fact that someone went out of their way to get it for me. That is the type of thing that makes me go and ask the receptionist who got this for me? Because they are the shit. Especially when you work with engineers who were interns, because they see interns doing things like that, and they think that was something that I would have done as an intern. That makes me notice that intern for sure. Then once you’re on the radar, then I start watching them all the time. So anticipating people’s needs is a good way to get people’s attention as an intern, without being all up in their face. You don’t have to get their attention all flashy like. You get to be behind the scenes and get their attention by anticipating their needs.

Callie: I know a good thing that I’ve noticed with people…If you treat whatever you’re given…Say you have to get someone a bagel. Treat that bagel, and I know this is going to sound silly but, treat that like it was something that you had to edit in Pro Tools. The kind of work that you had to put in to mixing some music, put into that bagel. Because people are going to start noticing. And if you get that bagel, that coffee, that lunch perfectly every time, people are going to start realizing that oh, they pay attention to detail. They check their work. They’re going to start giving you little bitty things that you can do and it’s just going to get bigger and bigger. If I can trust him getting my coffee right, maybe I can give him this little piece of film to edit. If he does good on that, maybe I’ll give him a little bit more audio to edit. So everything you do, treat it as if it was important. It is your job for that moment. It has to be important, whether it’s making photocopies or cleaning toilets. Do it the best that you can. Listen to every detail that is given to you. Check your work. Recheck your work. Even if you’re just making a couple copies of these ADR cue sheets. It’s just whatever little task. If you’re like, man this is just a donut…But make sure you give them the right donut. Maybe some extra napkins, make it cute. Something. Treat it as important as if you were behind a Pro Tools rig. Even though you might just be behind a counter just being client service. Because client services are just so important when you are an intern or a runner. That’s what I would look at, if I could see someone has some client services on their resume, that was always a big trigger for me to be like, OK they worked at Starbucks, they know how to handle people. Sometimes I would look at that before I looked at their audio. You need that and you just need a good vibe. We’ve had actors come in constantly to do ADR…we’ve had some interns that have just been really creepy and creep everyone out and will follow the actor. We’re like “what are you doing?!” But he’s in my favorite movie! I know, but you can’ cling and be creepy. You want people to want to be around you. You can’t stare at them or follow them or linger. So you really have to know your environment and know the vibe and just treat everything as if it was the biggest thing that you could be doing at that time.

Jeremy: Remember names!

Andrew: And Al Pacino may look like the homeless man sitting outside, so don’t be mean to the homeless man sitting outside.

Becky Fimbres [internship coordinator]: I have one question for all of you. Well, it’s not even a question. I want you guys to give them one piece of advice that they should take away from their education here. Do this. Don’t do this. Remember to always do this, based on their time here.

Andrew: Don’t let this be the end of your education. This is just the beginning. This is the infancy stage. You learn so many amazing things in this school and I know it’s so much knowledge crammed into just a couple of months, but it’s so much that you are learning, so much terminology, so much signal flow, Pro Tools, all these different things, but when you get out there you will realize that this is just the starting point. When you get out there in the real world, that is when you’re real learning begins. And that’s when the real homework and the real studying has to begin. Right now you’re getting knowledge so you can walk into a control room and know what’s up. OK, this is a patch bay. Channel line inputs. Multi-track returns. Cool, I understand this. But you don’t know how to interact with clients yet, you don’t know how to manage producer egos yet. You don’t know how to give a sound that a client is asking for, make this sound like this. You don’t know how to do that yet. You may know how to make a patch, or route signal through an SSL, but when you leave here that’s when the real education begins. Never ever stop learning, never stop studying. Take what you learn here and keep building on it. Keep studying as hard as you are now when you get out there. Even more so.

Callie: Take advantage of everything that you guys have here. All the studio time, all the equipment. Soak it all in.

Andrew: Book those late night sessions at the Tempe SSL, all that stuff.

Callie: You may not be touching a console for a while. It could be years before you get to touch any kind of equipment. So take advantage and learn Pro Tools. Learn Pro Tools.

Jeremy: I think I would say I know that everybody hates wrapping cables and getting their cables back and rewrap them, cuz we all hated it. Man, I am so happy when I unwrap a cable and there is no loops, no knots, because sometimes I’m dealing with 100 footers, 200 footers, and if somebody can’t wrap a cable right it’s so frustrating. So don’t get frustrated at these guys because you’re not doing what they’re telling you. Just do what they tell you. And if you can’t get help. Just do it. Don’t worry about it. The other thing is, be open to things. When I came here I was thinking OK, like I said I’m not a big techie person. I want to make my stuff sound good and that’s it. I didn’t care about music business, I didn’t care about the live sound and satellite recording. And what did I end up doing? Satellite recording. We had one class on it and I didn’t pay attention whatsoever, I didn’t care, I was like whatever. And that’s all I’m doing now. So be open. I wish I would have been more open to live sound. There are a lot of live sound gigs. I could have been working at the Whisky for a long time doing sound. They were like, “Do you know how to do this?” I said “well yeah, I do. It’s a console I know how to do it, but I didn’t pay attention to that.” Tuning the room and stuff like that. Be open to things like that. Also, just being quiet. People teach you here that when you get out, you’re nothing. You really aren’t anything. So don’t get out thinking that just because you’re certified you know things, because you don’t. You don’t know anything. You have a piece of paper. So remember that, and be humble. That’s the biggest thing you can do, be humble and have people like you. The rest of the stuff you can learn.

Callie: Or they’ll teach you.

Eric: I agree with everything you guys have been saying. One thing that I would say is don’t become jaded. Remember why you got into this. Remember why you wanted to get into the music industry, or why you wanted to get into the post industry. It’s tough, it’s a tough life. Don’t let it wear you down, you’ll get there. It’s important to just persevere and keep remembering why you’re doing it. For the love of music. For the love of movies. For the love of live sound. For the love of post production. For the love of video games, whatever. Why did you choose this lifestyle? That’s one of the biggest things to remember. Why did you do this? Why did you work so hard towards this? That’s one thing that I notice, that a lot of people lose sight of that spark. It’s tough when you’ve been running for three years and you don’t feel like you’re going to make it. Don’t let that jade you and don’t let that make you get complacent. Don’t let that ruin your drive to do something. If you’re tired of running at a studio for three years, it might be time to look at another studio, or another gig, or something else. I’ve seen some people stay in the same job and not go anywhere. Not because they weren’t any good, but because they allowed themselves to get complacent and jaded, and too comfortable.

Jeremy: I want to add something real quick to what he was saying about not giving up and stuff like that. I was about to give up. I lived in Switzerland, and I left Switzerland to come to this school. I went and did my internship for a while and it was hard and I didn’t have any money and it was freelance and it sucked. I was like, you know what, screw this, I’m going to go back to Switzerland and do my stuff back there. I stayed in contact with one of the instructors here and he would hit me up every now and then and how things were going. And I said it’s not going and I’m about to leave cuz I’m done. He was like, alright, give me a minute. I’ll call you back in five minutes. And he called Greg Stefus who was my intern coordinator at the time, and they had the gig with Mark Linett. And they said call him in 5 minutes because no one had taken the gig. And luckily because the people here cared…I was already done with the internship, I was already out of the school, but because they people here still cared about it, I got hooked up in the gig that I’m doing now. And I was this close to leaving. So don’t give up.

Maggie: I think it’s important to remember what you are doing and that it’s going to be OK. When you get out of here, it’s just like they said, you’re not going to be anybody. You’re just going to be that intern, or the person trying to be an intern. And it gets tough, and it gets overwhelming and it gets expensive. But don’t sweat it. You just got to keep your head down and you gotta keep going because it will be fine. You did well here, there is a reason you got through this. Yes, the real learning begins, but also the real fun begins. And you can’t ever forget that. You just need to always remember that you’re going to be fine and you know what you need to know. Listen, the technical stuff, you have got to keep your chops up. But as long as you have the right attitude and you keep going, you’re going to be OK.

Andrew: That’s right, your attitude is what’s going to get you in the door, not your chops. Your chops is what’s going to keep you in the room that the door opened to. Also remember to, what you are getting into is not a job. It’s a lifestyle. 120%. It’s a lifestyle. A job is something you go to during the day and you go home and that’s where you live your life. But this, you’re always at the studio. You live there essentially. The people you associate with are living the same lifestyle. You talk about gear, you talk about music, you talk about engineers and producers. You talk about how you’re sick of eating Top Ramen. You talk about all the same things because you are all in the same boat. It’s a lifestyle. And these are the people you are going to rise in the ranks with, and these are the people that are going to become your best friends, because they feel what you are going through. I lost all my friends when I went into the industry. All of my friends from high school, my girlfriend, I’m sorry. They just didn’t get it. And I made new friends with the people who were doing what I was trying to do because you are all in it together. You all become hooked on the lifestyle. And that’s when it really becomes fun and you realize you’re really part of something special. When you work on that special record, or that special film, or whatever you do, that’s when it becomes worth it. Because that’s there forever. Your name is printed on that record, or that movie forever, and no matter what happens…People can doubt you, people back home or wherever can say “oh he didn’t do anything”. Oh really? Well here’s my name in this. It’s proof and it’s there forever.

Callie: And keep up good hygiene!

Eric: Don’t smell.

Andrew: You gotta keep a bag with you. A gig bag.

Eric: Yeah, keep an overnight bag with you in your trunk. I swear. Toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo, t-shirt, change of clothes, the whole deal…

Jeremy: I’m not teaching you how to wash yourself for $45 an hour though! A ninja, OK.

And that concludes our incredibly informative discussion. There is so much valuable information that our grads were able to provide us with. While the panel had a decent turn-out, there are certainly more people that should have been there. Keep that in mind…by not making yourself available, or putting yourself out there, or being part of extra activities, you could be missing out on some great opportunities or knowledge. Take advantage of everything that you possibly can!

CRAS Grad Panel Part 5

Posted on May 31, 2013 by CRAS

Following up on our Grad Panel post from yesterday, here is the continuation:

From left to right -

Jeremy Hinskton – A2 Engineer at Music Mix Mobile

Callie Thurman – Sound Dialogue Editor at Wildfire Post

Andrew Wuepper – Mix Engineer, Freelance

Maggie O’Brien – Production and Operations Manager at Blue Microphones

Eric Rennaker – Studio Manager at Bedrock LA

When we left off yesterday, the grads were going over what they look for in an intern they are interested in hiring.

Andrew: Another thing for me, people that I look for, is musical instincts. I can teach you the use of an 1176, or I can teach you why we use a Neve. I can teach you how to get a good snare sound, but I can’t teach you what a good snare sound is. You have to study music. Just as much as you’re in this school studying how music is recorded and how it’s mixed and how it’s produced, you have to study what makes great music great music. From a composition stand point, the way different music is arranged, different sounds, different vibes. Different sounds that create different vibes. So your homework doesn’t just have to do with what are great compressors. It has to do with man, those are great records, they were timeless. Listen to how they feel. Because a lot of producers don’t speak the language of “can you give me 2 dB of compression” or…some of them do but a lot of them, it’s all about the feel for them. A lot of people can’t hear past good. They just know how it feels.

Rachel Ludeman [internship coordinator]: What were you saying about P. Diddy?

Andrew: Aw man. So, this was like four years ago. I was in Miami doing some sessions for Diddy when he was doing his “Last Train to Paris” album. We were doing the mix and he was in the control room and he was listening. He was like, “It’s good, but it needs more…like, it needs that thing like this.” [dancing, waving his arms around] So the way that I interpreted that was OK, he probably wants more hi hat because…the groove maybe? The way I interpret moving like this is the way the track grooves. You’re going to get a lot of colorful interpretations. Chocolate bass, I’ve heard. I’ve heard a lot of things that just don’t make sense but…

Eric: Farty bass, that’s my favorite. It needs more farty bass. What?!

Andrew: Most of the colorful terms are easy to understand. Can the snare slap more? A lot of times they relate a noise, or a feeling, to an actual sound. So those are more easy to put together. But you studying music and how it feels will help you decipher the producer’s colorful terms. It’s really important that you understand music as much as you understand the equipment that’s used to make the music.

Rachel: Maggie, what are you looking for in an intern? You’ve actually taken several interns in your time.

Maggie: Yeah, it all plays into what they guys have said. Attitude is everything. Enthusiam is so important. I think that you have to do your homework before you work anywhere, whether it’s a studio, or whether you’re going into manufacturing or whatever. Spend 10 minutes on the internet. That’s one of the things that always trips me up. If I’m interviewing somebody and I go “Have you heard of us, or what do you know about us?” If you don’t know anything, that’s fine. You can say I want to learn manufacturing, or I’m into tech work. That’s good. But the worst thing that happens is when people go “yeah yeah I totally know of your products.” You’re like, cool. Then they say “you make something for USB, right?” It’s like, well yeah. Sure. It’s one of those things, and I’ve had people that have done that. You know within 30 seconds of meeting somebody whether they are into it or whether they are there for the right reasons. Or “we heard you have a studio and saw this artist come in…” For internships with me, you’re going to be doing production stuff. It’s going to be service. It’s manufacturing. We have a studio in there, but don’t ask me how much time you’re going to spend in the studio, because it’s not going to be anything. That’s just not what we do in my department. On the flip side of that, one of the best things that I ever saw somebody do, was a CRAS grad who came in and interviewed and in the middle of the interview he pulled out a notebook and said “So what’s expected of me?” And he jotted down notes the entire time. That was incredible. You hear “what’s expected of me” and you’re like, you gotta do this, we’re gonna teach you this so you’ve gotta do that… But to sit and take notes, and then have him pull out a notebook every time that something else came up so he can go back and reference that stuff was incredible. He ended up getting hired full time, so…You really need to just take time, do research and make sure that you know what you need to know going into it. And even if you don’t know everything, know what questions to ask. There’s no shame in any of that.

Andrew: And don’t bullshit, because you’ll get caught.

Maggie: Or the right amount of bullshit you can get away with. It’s completely normal to be a “yes” person, 100% I think is fine. But you have to know how to back it up. Don’t just say yes and not know anything…

Andrew: Know enough about it where you could figure it out with the basic information that you have. Like, yes I can do that, and I’ve done that were I’ve never done that [task] before, but I know in my mind that I could figure that out. But just because an opportunity comes up, just because it’s a great opportunity, if it’s over your head…

Maggie: Don’t ever over promise and under deliver. Always say “I’ll figure it out.” Or when they ask do you think you could do this? “Yeah, I think so. I’ll figure it out.” If you say yes, and the minute you miss that, you are that person. But if you are the person that’s resourceful and you’re like “yeah I think so, I’ll figure it out or I know how to figure it out”… Those people ask the right questions, learn the right things and they get the right attention. Definitely be positive and be the go-to but don’t always promise everything, other than “you’ll figure it out.”

Eric: Also, use the internet. If you don’t know how to do something, I bet you could figure it out on the internet. Most likely, if you don’t know how to do something in Pro Tools, YouTube. It’s amazing.

Jeremy: “How to insert a marker”

Eric: Yeah, there you go!

Crowd Question: First of all I’d like to thank you guys for coming out! And this school is awesome isn’t it guys? My name is George Doman, I’m in 8th cycle now, and although everybody’s kind of helped me out with my disability, because I have cerebral palsy, I just wanted to ask you guys…as far as being a runner, now I will do what I can, but I’m asking you guys, have you ever ran into someone who is in the industry who has a disability? It is a bit discouraging. It’s like the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. I’m glad that it’s all about attitude. Just wanted to hear your opinion.

Eric: Actually, when I first started at Westlake, one of the runners had cerebral palsy as well. It didn’t stop him from doing anything, and he was being an awesome asset to the company. So keep doing what you are doing!

Jeremy: Yeah, I’ve seen a couple of guys on some gigs, movie award type stuff that are more like stage A2s or stage hands that are setting up mics, who have disabilities as well. I don’t know what disabilities, but I have seen it and it may not be the most common thing in the world, but it is there.

Maggie: If you want it you’ll go for it, and you’ll get it.

Jeremy: Absolutely.

Andrew: And you’ll probably work harder than everyone else, which will make you better than everyone else. In the end, what you hear right here is what matters. It’s what’s in here and what you hear with this, and if you train that properly, nothing else matters. All that matters is what comes out of the speakers in the end.

Eric: And whether or not your clients are happy. Well, if what comes out the speakers is good, your clients will be happy anyway.

Becky Fimbres [internship coordinator]: So I have a question for you guys. What next, for all of you? What is your plan of action?

Jeremy: I’m gonna keep going doing what I’m doing! I’ve got a great gig and I love it. I get to work with crazy amounts of people doing awesome things. I’m going to continue to do it. I only do a couple of gigs a month. You don’t always find something that pays so well. Luckily you can. So by doing that… I mean, this is the first time that I’ve been completely freelance. I quit my regular job back in October and haven’t had a steady job since then. I’ve been just only doing this, twice a month if that. Luckily it’s working out and I can do my own freelance other mix gigs, and producing and being in a band. So I have a lot of free time to do other things so I can keep doing the job I have and I plan to keep going. I plan to keep going like that. It’s great and I don’t plan on changing.

Callie: I want to get into more editing, but you know, things can change very quickly when you are out there. You could be working one minute and not working the next and have the rug ripped out from right under you. It happens a lot, it happens all the time, but you always got to keep going with it. There’s so much that’s out there, and just in film and TV world there is so much. There’s commercials, there’s trailers, there’s cartoons, animation. There’s so much film. Everything. YouTube videos, internet web series. You can always keep moving forward in a lot of different areas, so it’s always kind of constantly, just keep going to the next level of it. Whether you want to edit or mix or be an administrative. Whatever it is. Me personally, I just want to keep going up the dialogue and ADR editing and see what happens.

Andrew: I’m going to keep mixing until my phone stops ringing. I just finished building my own home studio. I mean, I’ve been building my studio up for the last three years. I’m a total gear junkie, gear head, so I collect analog, old vintage gear and new gear. So I’m just going to keep building my studio up and just keep getting more toys to play with and keep mixing. People call, and I mix. Once people stop calling, I guess I’ll figure something else out. For now I’m just going to keep going doing what I’m doing.

Maggie: Always just trying to grow. I try not to set expectations. I try not to focus to hard on what’s next because I’ve had decent luck doing that. How I got where I am today is just a combination of being in the right place at the right time and be willing to work for it. So it’s gone decently well. I’m always looking to grow, I’m always looking to learn. And always in those situations trying to be creative. As I said, with a 9-5 you’ve got time to work on other records. I’ve worked on some video stuff, some film stuff. So I think that’s important, and it’s also as I continue…my company now as it grows I get a bigger team. It’s teaching people what I know and getting people to grow as well. I’m always looking for more. I’m always ready for whatever happens, I’d say.

Eric: Just going to keep continuing on, expanding and trying to build up Bedrock and continue to produce artists and engineer. You know. I have kind of a tunnel vision where the only thing that I ever see is directly in front of me. So it’s hard for me to think years ahead of time. Which is why I’m a big fan of…the past you can’t change, the future you can’t expect, the present you can change. That’s the only thing that you really have control over, so I try not to think about it too much. As long as I keep doing this every day that I wake up, and I work on music, or I connect with a new client, or anything like that, I’m happy. It definitely doesn’t suck.

Andrew: Any day where you don’t have a real job is a good day.

Eric: I don’t have to wear a tie, and I don’t have to sit at a flat desk…just one with a whole bunch of knobs.

Andrew: It’s been five years since I had a real job.

Eric: Doesn’t that feel awesome?

Jeremy: Cuz this isn’t a job. It’s not a job when you love it like that.

Eric: I woke up at 2pm yesterday, it felt awesome!

Andrew: I wake up at 2pm everyday!

Jeremy: I wanted to add something too. When Andrew was talking about being a gear head…I am so not a gear head. I am not this technical person that loves all these pieces of gear and all this stuff. So when you come across that, don’t be intimidated because there are plenty of people who aren’t like that. It’s cool. But I got into this for music, not for technical…I wanted to make my own stuff better as opposed to getting into some studio or something like that. There’s a lot of gear heads out there that will run circles around you with knowledge of what things do. I don’t know what the hell they’re talking about half of the time. As long as you can do your job and do it well, and people like you, that’s good. Don’t be intimidated.

Andrew: It’s not at all about the gear. The gear, I like, just because I like it. There are mixers out there who clean my clock using nothing but a Distressor and one Focusrite. Two pieces of gear! It’s all about your musical taste, the way you hear things. Putting your feelings, what you are feeling, your attitude, your personality into the record. That’s why someone hires one person as opposed to another. Different engineers have different personalities and different feelings and different ways they go about doing things. That’s what it’s all about. The gear is just a bridge to get you there. You could get there with whatever you’re using. Hit records are made on laptops these days. It’s not about the gear, it’s about how the person using it feels and what they can accomplish with what they have in front of them.

Maggie: I think also to play into what both of these guys said…that’s another part where networking is so important. The person who has a great personality or the person who can go out and meet clients might not have gear and might not have that knowledge. So you make friends with the gear head. Not everybody has every quality. I know some techs who are better off not talking to anybody. And they are brilliant! So that’s a great marriage, if you love talking or whatever, get a tech to back you up. Don’t write checks you can’t cash. There’s everybody out there you just have to find that right mix and you’ll be successful.

Crowd Question: I just have a question for the women on the panel. From what I see it is a pretty male dominated industry. As a woman what kind of issues or hurdles did you have to overcome, and how did you deal with it at the time?

Callie: Yeah, that’s a tough one. Some places you go to, some people you work with, there is a little bit of sexism. You know, you’re on the pirate ship with all the guys. It’s partially understood that there’s a little bit more you might have to do…I’m not sure how to say it without sounding…you know.

Becky Fimbres: You just gotta let things roll off your back.

Maggie: Yeah, you gotta have thick skin.

Callie: Let things roll off your back. You just have to pretend that sex is not an issue and you’re just one of the guys. You can do anything they can do. If you don’t let them treat you in that way, then you won’t be treated that way. If you are going to go in it as Ms Barbie, you’re going to be treated like Ms Barbie. But if you going and say I’m gonna do this and it doesn’t matter, then that is just the way it’s going to be. And you run across all kinds of females in the industry. Various kinds with different successes and different things they want to do. A lot of admin, there’s some editors. There’s some female mixers. It’s really growing, especially in post production. This year I finally got to supervise a short film, and the whole crew were female. Even the director. So that was the first time in the almost eight years that I’ve been at Wildfire that we could have a whole female crew, from the mixers to the editors to the directors. So it’s happening.

Maggie: Yeah, it’s really important to in a sense just remove all emotion. You’re going to hear shit you don’t want to hear. You’re not going to agree with a lot of it, but you have to be confident with what you want to do and who you are. You’ll be in really awful situations, where it’s like…I worked at a company where a tape echo broke, and three dudes couldn’t fix it. Every time I stood up, they were just like, no, nuh uh, no. You learn how to splice tape here. I had it fixed in 30 seconds. They were like “holy shit!” Yeah, you guys are jerks. Just get thick skin, expect it, don’t take it home with you and know you are just as good as they are.

Callie: Yeah, cry elsewhere. I know I felt bad. That was one rule someone told me a while ago. Don’t cry in front of the boss. I did it once, and I felt terrible. It happens. You just gotta play tough and be tough. Just thicken your skin and if you need a moment just step outside and have some chocolate and you’ll be fine.

Maggie: You can’t ever forget you’re equal.

Crowd Question: My question is just sort of a little side thing. How much sleep do you guys usually get?

Jeremy: I get a lot of sleep, man. Like I was saying, I have gigs twice a month maybe, besides my own freelance stuff which I make my own schedule. I pretty much do what I want when I want, unless it’s a two or three day gig where it’s usually a 15 or 16 hour day each day. But five of those a month, it’s nothing. For me it’s easy.

Callie: At the facility I work at we have our motion picture union. So union hours you put 10 hours in a day with an hour lunch. So we get in at 9, we’re out at 7, and that’s most of the days. It makes for a long day, but we don’t typically have overtime. It wasn’t always like that, and if you take extra projects outside of work sometimes you’re not getting any sleep. But once you get settled into the position you’re going to be in, I’ve gotten more sleep. Usually I can get the 8 hours a night.

Andrew: For me it’s a little different. Being primarily a mix engineer these days, we tend to work the longer hours. I probably average…I usually get to the studio at 1pm and I usually leave about 4:30 in the morning, six days a week. I try to always take Sundays off. Sometimes it’s less, sometimes it’s more. If we are under the gun to deliver and album for a deadline, I may be at the studio for three days and never go home. We have showers and all that, comfortable couches and everything to sleep on. As an assistant engineer, none. I probably averaged three hours a night for three years. There was a stint where I worked eight months without a single day off, with Dave. When we were really really going hard, eight months without a single day off. So that’s the type of…like I said earlier, the only word that can justify it is obsession. There’s people out there that will be that obsessed and will work that hard. That’s your competition. The way you get to the next level is you assess what your competition’s doing and you work harder than that. That’s just my story of what I did. Plenty of people made it to my level probably not working the extreme conditions that I worked, but that’s just what I did and what I went through.

Maggie: I agree, when I was at studios I never slept. Like never. I would get there at probably 2pm and then leave at 11am the next day. And then you’re just waiting for that call, “they’re at the studio, go open it up. You should have been there an hour ago getting fruit baskets or whatever ready.” But now 9-5 dude. I’m 8 hours, unless there’s….you know I sit at a desk where there isn’t faders, but I can wear a laser cat shirt, so it’s ok. At the same time if you take up other gigs, you adjust accordingly.

Eric: When I was an assistant it was about the same. You were working seven days a week, getting three hours a night, give or take, maybe, depending how far you live from your studio. Which is why you should live really close to your studio. I live right next door to the studio that I work at -

Andrew: No more than a mile away.

Eric: - and it is incredible. I get so much more sleep now because I don’t have to commute. But now I’m in at 11 and out a 2 or 3 in the morning, give or take, depending on how busy it is. It’s funny, you get to a point where you sleep so little that your body just gets used to it. And then when you have that day off and you sleep 8 hours, you are useless for the entire day. You are so tired. You’ve almost overslept. That’s why when I would go on long stretches, I would try to keep kind of the same hours so I didn’t hit the wall. If I only had one day off, I’d have to spend the entire day doing basically the same hours. Can’t really sleep in because you’re gonna be tired and it’s going to make you really cranky and you’re gonna be off the next day.

Andrew: It can be tough. There’s moments where on top of being sleep deprived, you have to be sharp. You have to be the sharpest one in the room, even though you’re probably the only one who hasn’t slept. It can be difficult, coffee is your best friend. And Red Bull. I know that stuff is bad for you but only do it temporary. It will be your friend to get you through these couple of years and then…Whatever it takes to stay sharp.

Eric: And don’t discount the little 10 minute, 15 minute power nap. That will keep you going. It really will. Just 10 minutes in a quiet dark place, with just nothing, and you’ll have another 8 hours of energy. I learned that from the owner of Westlake. I never ever saw him sleep. He was at the studio all day and night and I remember once I walked in, and he was just taking a power nap. He was like “yeah man, that’s how I survive.” Just take 15 minute power naps throughout the day.

Andrew: Yeah, I know a lot of producers like that, they basically live at the studio and they just…every three or four hours they will sleep for an hour, or 40 minutes. They literally work 24 hours around the clock and they just take power naps every couple of hours.

Eric: Some people are just hard wired for that. It’s different for everybody. I’ve known a couple of people who I swear the first time I was working with them that they were on meth. I swear. I was like, I know these guys are smoking meth. There is no way they can be that excited this late at night after working these long hours. It’s not possible! But sure enough, it’s just coffee, and cigarettes.

Check back in tomorrow for the final installment of this series!

CRAS Grad Panel Part 4

Posted on May 30, 2013 by CRAS

Following up on our Grad Panel post from yesterday, here is the continuation:

From left to right -

Jeremy Hinskton – A2 Engineer at Music Mix Mobile

Callie Thurman – Sound Dialogue Editor at Wildfire Post

Andrew Wuepper – Mix Engineer, Freelance

Maggie O’Brien – Production and Operations Manager at Blue Microphones

Eric Rennaker – Studio Manager at Bedrock LA

On the previous post, we were working our way from the best moments these fine Grads have had, and leading into how to be successful in the industry:

Andrew: Like I was saying earlier, you never know when your chance is going to come. It could be five years, one year, six months. The harder you work, the more positions you put yourself in to get lucky. Luck is going to have something to do with it. You’re going to have to get lucky.

Jeremy: And make friends.

Andrew: The more you’re around, the better your chances are to get lucky.

Eric: And also adding to that. Answer. Your. Phones. I kid you not! Please answer your phones. I can’t tell you how many people…if it’s 9 o’clock on a Saturday night, answer it. It could be Snoop Dogg, and he wants to come down to the studio to record vocals. It could be anything! Working as a studio manager, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written off somebody because they don’t answer their phone. I’m sorry, but if I have a session that needs to be built now, I’m not going to wait ten minutes for you to call me back. I’m gonna move on to the next person. And that’s how every single producer, artist, studio manager, studio owner, whoever will operate. They don’t have time to wait for you, they’re just going to move on.

Andrew: And they’ll never call you again. It’s not that they missed out this time, they missed out forever.

Eric: And also, I know we’re getting off on a tangent here, but don’t ever answer, “Maybe, what’s the gig?”

Jeremy: Oh, no, no.

Eric: You just lost every gig then [if you ask who the client is]. As a studio manager or an artist, they don’t want you to take the gigs when they are cherry, they want you to take the gigs they give you, because they need you to prove yourself, or the just need somebody to do a gig. It doesn’t matter who it is. It’s a paying gig, and it’s doing what you want to do. It doesn’t matter if it’s any punk band from wherever, it doesn’t matter if it’s Rhianna, it doesn’t matter who it is. Just say yes. If you’re available, say yes. Of course, if you are unavailable, just say that you are unavailable, you know, if you’re on another session. It’s not like you can just leave your session. That they understand. In fact, that will make them want to call you more. If you’re literally like, “actually I’m in a session with whoever.” Oh cool, catch you next time. But if it’s like, “nah, I wanna hang at home and watch TV,” you’re never getting called again.

Becky Fimbres: That’s exactly what happened with Jeremy. We couldn’t find somebody to take this gig with Mark Linett, and I told them to call Jeremy. He [Jeremy] said, “I’m down, I got it.”

Jeremy: That’s the cool thing when they hit me up about gigs, they don’t tell me who it is. They just say “are you available for these dates?” And I just say yes. Like next week I have a two day gig in LA. I don’t know what I’m doing, or where it’s at. All I know is that it’s next Wednesday and Thursday. I have no clue. But so far I haven’t turned down a gig, every time they’ve asked me I’ve said yeah, cool. I find out the day before something, and it’s always something huge. Well, not always, there are some bad ones, but…you know, it’s work. And when you look at it like you just want to be a part of it, it doesn’t matter what gig it is. It’s experience. You never know what’s going to happen and it’s really cool. I don’t know what I’m doing next week, whatever.

Andrew: And even piling on that, once you make it out into the world, and people are paying you, you are a professional. You are a professional audio engineer. Professionals don’t just do work that they do or don’t want to do. If you’re a professional, what makes you professional is that you can do the work no matter what it is. I pretty much mix records every day, and 70% of them I may not like. But someone is paying me for a service, and since I’m a professional, I’m going to deliver that service to the best of my ability. When you get those records that are really special, and when you are working on them and you know they are really special, it makes it all worth it. It makes all the records that you did that you didn’t like completely worth it. If you want to make a living you are going to do gigs that aren’t the walk in the park gigs. You know, you’re going to be in the back of the control room thinking this person can’t sing, why are they here? It’s going to happen, but professionals do the work, they don’t ask questions, they keep their mouth shut and they do the work, and they deliver every time.

Eric: And man, if you can pull the rabbit out of the hat on one of those bad artists and make them sound golden…

Andrew: If you can look like the wizard of Oz, that will give you work. It may be a lot of work you don’t want to do…

Eric: But you will get paid for it.

Andrew: You charge for it, and that’s when you raise the rates. Like, look what I did last time!

Callie: I do the same job on a movie that no one is going to see, that I would do on a movie that is going to be #1 at the box office. It’s still my job and I do the same thing, whether it’s straight to DVD or straight to #1. That’s my work and I do it. That’s how it’s always going to happen. You might have some big ones, and you might have some duds. But you’ve got to treat it like it’s your job and you are going to do the best that you can no matter what.

Eric: I’ve worked with some big artists in my time, and right now I’m mostly working with independents, and I treat them exactly the same. Because ultimately, that’s what matters. A happy client is a happy client and that will get you more gigs.

Andrew: And if you treat your clients who aren’t as well known the same as the big time ones, it’s just like another day at the office. You don’t show up to work thinking “oh my god, I’m working with this band today, or these people and I’ve been slacking this whole time…” OK, today is today, just the same as yesterday. Just a different artist or a different song. You never want to screw up in this job, but the way you learn is by working on projects that aren’t necessarily going to see the light of day. If you’re gonna make mistakes those are the better times to make them than when you get the call to do Bob Dylan or something. You don’t want to screw up on those gigs, because everybody is going to hear you screw up. It’s a very valuable experience, extremely important experience to work on all levels of the spectrum, whether it’s independent or major.

Callie: Or for free…

Eric: Oh yeah, experience is experience. A client who is happy is a client who is happy.

Callie: You may be working for them for free right now on a record or a short film or a student project, but what if some time they hit it big? They’re going to come back to you and use you again. So yeah, when you first worked with them they were straight out of film school or whatever, and then the next thing you know they are a big director and they want to work with you.

Crowd Question: I think this question is more for Andrew. I watch Pensado’s Place on YouTube. How did you fall under him? How did that happen?

Andrew: That’s actually a very good story. Basically, I came up at Larrabee. I was hired as an intern. I worked like two or three days a week, didn’t get paid. This studio had a full staff of six paid runners, full time runners. I don’t know how many people are familiar with Larrabee Studios, but it’s pretty much locked out with resident mixers. Manny Marroquin is in one room, Dave Pensado is in another room. The other room, which is now occupied by Jason Joshua was at the time a revolving door. Jean Marie Horvat, Tony Maserati, a lot of guys would come in there and mix. So, the studios were pretty much locked out, since with resident engineers, they had resident assistants. Their right hands, their go to guys. So you had six runners gunning for two assisting jobs basically. A lot of these runners had been there for two or three years, so that’s a long time of minimum wage, waiting for the opportunity. But when the time came for Dave to get a new assistant…Dave was very picky about the people that he works with, especially on a vibe level. The first thing he said, the most important thing is that people like you. Your personality and your personal skills are way more important than your engineering skills. That’s one of the best pieces of advice that I can give you guys. It doesn’t matter, you could be the best engineer on the planet, but if you have no people skills, you’ll never work. So, that’s kind of what had happened with these other guys that were runners, Dave just didn’t vibe with any of them. So he called a meeting with the studio manager, and he was thinking he would have to hire someone from outside the studio because it was just not working with these guys. The studio manager said “Absolutely, that’s fine. But before you do that, there’s this guy named Andrew, he works the front desk. He’s only been here for a little while and I know you don’t know who he is, but try him out. I think he may know what he is doing.” And Dave was like, OK, I’ll try him. Two days into me working with him, we got a call to mix a record in Vegas, at the Studio at the Palms, and he took me with him. He was basically like, “Alright, this is your sink or swim moment. You’re either going to do great, or you’re going to be fired when we get back.” So of course, I’m driving, and I had to drive a truck with all 7 huge flight cases of gear in the back, and I’m just like sh*tting my pants, if I screw this up, that’s going to be it. When I got there, I just knew that this was the moment. This was the fork in the road that could lead to the rest of my life. I did everything in my power to prepare for that. I spent all night learning…I mean, it’s a room that I had never seen before. I walked into the studio, never seeing any of it. The credenzas, the patch bay, I had never seen any of it. But one good thing about coming here [CRAS] is that the knowledge that you learn, be it the patch bay, or signal flow, can allow you to perform in any studio. Once I figured it out, it took me about two hours to feel the room out, but once I did that, and I realized that it’s the same patch bay, just bigger. OK, it’s ins and outs, it’s the same thing that I’ve been doing this whole time. Once, I figured that out, I kind of calmed down and cleared my head and I was able to deliver and perform. When Dave came in to do the first mix, everything was up and ready, all his gear was patched up the way he wanted it. When we got back from Vegas, he basically became my mentor. He’s like, “I’m going to teach you everything I know about how to be an engineer.” And to this day, I owe everything that I have in my life now is because of him and the opportunity that he granted me. So again, luck, but how hard I worked is what put my name into the studio manager’s mind, to say before you hire from outside of the studio try this guy. The hard work that I didn’t think that anyone was noticing, the extra time that I spent cleaning the lounge, or mopping the floor, I’m just keeping my head down doing it. I didn’t know that anyone noticed it until he called me into his office and said I know you have been doing a good job. Don’t screw this opportunity up, this could mean the rest of your life working with this guy. So that’s pretty much that.

Rachel Ludeman [internship coordinator]: OK, this kind of goes with what you are talking about. So at this point, now a few of you guys are taking on your own interns, what initially are you looking for when you have that interview with them? What makes you say “OK, I’m going to take a chance on this person”?

Eric: Attitude is probably the first one. I could teach you my studio, but I can’t really teach you how to have a good attitude. I’m also looking for something specific just because of the clientele that I work with. I tend to look for people who are more musically oriented, more of a wide variety of knowledge as far as different guitar amps, and different drum sounds, and different stuff like that. I work with mostly independent artists who come to me because they want to achieve a sound. They don’t know the first thing about how to get that sound. One thing you’ll learn is that you can put up the most amazing mics in the world, but if you have the worst player in the world, it’s still going to sound like that. Or if you have the worst sounding drum set in the world, it’s still going to sound like a crappy drum set. So I kind of look for people like that, and like I said earlier, just somebody who is just willing to work. One of my favorite guys, I just hired him a couple weeks ago… He’s in his 40s, but man this guy freakin’ works. He has never asked me “what’s the gig?” He’s always just said “sure, I’ll be there. What time? Do I need to bring anything?” No, you’re good. Cool. That’s really what I’m looking for. He just wants to work, he wants to get out there and do stuff, and he’s constantly…I actually had to have a conversation with him. He would come to me and say “Hey, how am I doing? Do you think I could do better?” And I’m like, don’t worry about that. Trust me, I’m a pretty straight forward guy, if there is something that you are doing wrong, I’m going to tell you about it. So that’s why I say that attitude is everything. Confidence is everything, but make sure that that confidence doesn’t toe the line of arrogance. I hate to say it, but I’ve seen a lot of people, specifically at Westlake, where interns come in saying “Yeah, I’m the hot shit! I’m gonna take your job next year!” And those guys crash and burn, because they don’t make friends. You’re never going to move up in the world if you don’t make friends.

Jeremy: Yeah, I would definitely say that it’s all about attitude first and foremost. If you don’t get a good vibe going, you’re screwed. We just started getting a couple interns in, and they are pretty much under me directly. The first guy we got I thought was OK, he didn’t give me too many problems, he asked some questions, he wanted to do some things. I showed him what to do and everything was OK. Next thing I know, next gig, he’s not there and we have a new intern. So I’m like OK, I didn’t know what the deal was, I didn’t ask. So I just start showing the new guy. The one thing that I’d say is, don’t talk too much. That’s what you learn here a lot. It’s pounded into your head, just sit down, shut up and watch what’s going on. And take that to heart. This guy, he’s a great guy, he does talk a lot and sometimes he is not aware of what’s around him. We were just doing the New Now Next awards for the Logo network, which is a lot of gay and lesbian pro stuff like that. Some of the performers were cross dressers, and stuff like that, and we’re sitting there on the side of the stage and he’s laughing about this and…You know, we can joke about it sometimes, but know how is around because one of them was right behind him and he’s being really loud. I’m looking at him [the intern] and I’m like, be quiet dude. Look who’s right next to you, you know? You don’t want to do those kind of things. Just kind of chill out and don’t talk so much. He comes into the truck and he wants to ask all the engineers about this stuff and he’s asking about this button and that button and what Pro Tools are you running? And it’s like, wait a minute. This is your second day here. Just sit down and shut up and watch what’s going on. If you want to ask questions, wait until we have a meal break and then ask something. You know what I mean? Just kind of be quiet and watch what’s going on. That’s all that I can really say. Don’t treat people how you wouldn’t treat your mom or something. Unless you hate your mom. No, don’t hate your mom! But treat people good, you know what I mean? Because it comes back. If you’re an asshole, nobody wants to work with you. It goes back to the same things that we’ve been saying. So if you’re going to be an intern, do everything you can do. Be pro-active. But don’t be overboard, don’t be ridiculous, blah blah blah. Nobody wants to hear it. Yeah, we already know about Pro Tools 11, we know. You don’t need to come in and try to tell us.

Andrew: Yeah, we know before you.

Eric: Yeah, to add onto something you said, one of the things that I noticed as an assistant is that one of the most important things that you learn are things that you didn’t have to ask the engineer about. Just simple quick keys in Pro Tools, or ways that he runs the console. Stuff that you are just noticing that the specific person does every time. Specific habits. Sometimes those are the most important things you can learn, because they are actually subconscious things that they do that they don’t necessarily think are a big deal to them.

Andrew: The best way to learn is to be a ninja. The best way to learn. If you get all in someone’s face asking them…you’re going to start to annoy them sometimes. The ninja style is the best way to learn. And when you are an intern, the thing that I noticed the most is the ability to be there when you’re needed and instantaneously disappear like you were never there. Even when you become a second engineer, or an assistant engineer, when you are doing sessions with big producers and big artists, essentially you are a piece of gear in the room. When they want to use you, they will call upon you. If they don’t, you’re not even there.

Eric: I used to have hiding spots.

Andrew: Exactly! Hide. Blend in like literally you are hiding in the wall, like you’re wearing the same shirt as the wall pattern. But also, you are the most observant person in the entire room. I know it seems like a lot to ask, but you have to be the most observant person in the room, but also be the most invisible simultaneously.

Jeremy: And for $45 an hour, I can teach you how to be a ninja.

CRAS Grad Panel Part 3

Posted on May 29, 2013 by CRAS

Following up on our Grad Panel post from yesterday, here is the continuation:

From left to right -

Jeremy Hinskton – A2 Engineer at Music Mix Mobile

Callie Thurman – Sound Dialogue Editor at Wildfire Post

Andrew Wuepper – Mix Engineer, Freelance

Maggie O’Brien – Production and Operations Manager at Blue Microphones

Eric Rennaker – Studio Manager at Bedrock LA

Crowd Question: What’s your internship nightmare story and what did you do to resolve or fix that situation?

Callie: I didn’t have an internship nightmare, but I had a few runner nightmares. I’m originally from Texas, and when I came here this was the biggest city that I’d ever been in. I’m from west Texas, and then I moved to LA. I’m not used to parking garages, I’m not used to paying for parking, I’m not used to four story malls in the middle of Hollywood, so… I had to go on a run for our ADR stage. They had ordered pizza. It’s in this mall. First of all, it took me forever to figure out how to get into the mall and park and find where the pizza is. Next thing I know, I’m getting the pizza and I don’t remember where I parked. So I have the client’s food, whatever actors were in the studio, and the ADR mixer’s food who is very particular about his lunches. And there I am, lost in this four story mall, just no idea of where my car is. So I’m on the brink, I’m already starting to tear up a little bit, freaking out. I think they were trying to call me, people at work thought I had gotten into a wreck. They started to get worried because the clock was ticking. Finally I find my car and then I go to get out of the parking garage, and they go “Alright, that will be $2.50.” No money. And then instant tears. Just crying, “Oh no, I’ve messed this up!” But the poor lady at the parking meter felt sorry for me and let me go. I finally get back and the food’s cold, everybody thought I was in a wreck, I felt terrible. Luckily for me, they were all very nice but you know, it was just the big city and I wasn’t used to it. And I had to learn the hard way to be prepared. Google whatever you need to to figure out where you’re going. The quickest, fastest possible way and remember where you park your car.

Andrew: Definitely when you get a job in a studio, scout the neighborhood. I remember when I got my internship, I drove around in a six mile radius in every direction, wrote down every restaurant that was around there and how to get there. Because clients don’t know who’s getting the food and they don’t care. They just know that if they go to eat it and it’s cold, someone is getting yelled at. So absolutely scout the area, do your homework. You never stop doing your homework no matter what level you get to.

Jeremy: Yeah, I don’t have any internship horror stories, but when I was actually on the job up in Canada for their movie they’re putting out for Metallica… We’re playing these huge hockey rink arenas, you know huge. I think we’re in Edmonton, or Vancouver. We had to hang audience mics from the catwalk. So the head engineer John Harris comes in and he’s looking around, “OK we want audience mics here, here and here.” And I’m the stage guy, I’m the one in there dealing with the band and everything, and I had to run the audience mics. So I’m looking up at the catwalk. Oh yeah, no problem, I’ll go up there and hang all these mics, thinking I’m trying to be all gung-ho about it. You know, I want to keep this job, it’s a sweet gig. Well I go up there with my big bag of mics and cables and everything, not realizing that it’s like a million feet high. The catwalk is wood, with holes in it, and you know, I’m a big dude. I’m like 240 pounds! I’m walking up there and I look down, and I’m like “what the hell did I just do.” I’m trying to walk down this catwalk and I’m shaking, my knees are giving out. They’re building the stage down there and I’m just about to fall over and die. It’s over. Luckily the riggers were up there with the lighting and everything. I said “alright guys, so here’s what we gotta do.” And I just take command of them. “I need you to run over here and drop this cable down 100 feet, and this one…” and they all just went around and I was like “I’m gonna stay right here in the middle, let me know when you’re done, and I’m gone.” Scared the hell out of me. Didn’t do that the next city.

Andrew: I don’t know if I have a personal horror story, but I did witness some pretty horrific things. Either the engineer, or the second engineer, some stuff that happened to some poor interns. I was assistant engineering on this big string session for a big pop record. I think it was some Pussycat Dolls record, some big pop record. We had a full string…full orchestra in the live room. Keep in mind these are union musicians, so they’re on the clock. Time is money. If they go one minute over on a lunch break, it’s overtime. If they go one minute over whatever they’re scheduled to be there, it’s over time. You’re talking they are getting paid like $300 an hour each, and there’s like 60 of them in there. So you can imagine how much money can be wasted with wasting time. Well, there was a coffee run for all of the musicians, and the runner brought the coffee back. They handed out the first coffee to the string player on the end, and he tasted it and said “aw, it’s kind of cold.” The producer ran in and was like “If one’s cold, they’re all cold. Get those coffees out of here. Someone go get them again. And whoever brought that coffee, I never want to see them in the studio again.” That’s a very extreme example but you said horror story, so that’s pretty much the most horrific thing I’ve seen happen to an intern. The guy does business there, he makes the studio a lot of money, so unfortunately the studio manager didn’t want to let the guy go. A cold coffee could happen to anybody. Do your research and know that guy doesn’t play games. Cover your ass.

Eric: I saw a guy get fired over a piece of cheese. He forgot to get American cheese on a sandwich. The producer opens up the sandwich and said “where my motha-f***in’ cheese at?! Get out of here.” Never saw that guy again. A slice of cheese.

Andrew: It can be brutal but you got to prepare yourself for it.

Eric: Not everybody’s like that.

Andrew: Yeah, these are extreme cases but, again you have to prepare for everything. If you’ve read about a producer and you’ve heard stories that he is one of those guys – because they’re out there – you just have to know if you get called upon to do a run…if there’s ever a time to not screw it up, that’s the time, you know? Do whatever you can. If you have a run that’s far away and you don’t want the food to be cold…there’s a trick that I used to do where you would take the bag and you would put it next to the heater, and turn the car heater on. It sounds stupid but it works! Anything you can do to prepare yourself, and if you can prepare fully and it still doesn’t work out, maybe it wasn’t meant to be. You just gotta do everything in your power to make sure that you don’t get caught in one of those horror stories.

Becky Fimbres: Don’t they call that pre-production? Planning? Horror stories are great, but I want you guys to share your “this is why I do this” moment. Like that one moment in time where you’re like, “You know what, this is worth it all.”

Eric: The best session of my life. Well I got called to assist a session, and the manager told me who it was. Basically I was assisting a session that Quincy Jones was producing. It was Herbie Hancock playing piano, Nathan East playing bass, Vinnie Colaiuta playing drums, and Paul Jackson Jr playing guitar. If you don’t know who any of those musicians are, they are basically the A-list of the A-list session players – of all time. To me that was the most amazing experience of my life. Right from the first note…you know, the engineer, he was 75 years old. He had done Frank Sinatra records. And it was Quincy Jones producing. From the first note it was nothing but perfection. To me, that is what I love seeing. Great musicians, great engineers, great studio, great gear, great music. It can’t get any better.

Maggie: I think it’s my whole journey from the time I started at Blue. I literally just started answering phones. I worked in a studio. I had horrible hours, the clients were really tough, lots of egos. All the things that were my hell, was what I was doing every day, for 20 hours a day. So, I just wanted a job where I could get benefits and figure out what I could do next on a 9-5. That way I could still do freelance gigs, or I could work at bars and do sound at night and figure it out. I’d say maybe two years into it, I had a partner that we shared the same position, who is actually a CRAS grad too. Blue recently had come under new ownership, and the guys who bought it, they were like “We have to expand this thing.” They’re the young guys who just came out of Harvard, and are really tough and have these really hard ideas. Some of our areas at Blue were lacking. When I started there, there were 8 people who were responsible for the entire brand. I can remember the day, he was acting as CEO at the time. He was kind of the guy you dreaded. He never said anything nice. Every other word he said was an f-bomb, which is funny sometimes, but you’re like god, cheer up a little, right? He came to me and my partner and was like, “I feel like, with you guys we have this two headed monster. And we’re not making the most out of it,” of course with a bunch of other words in-between there. And he was like, “Can you run service, can you run production, and can you buy all this shit? Because we don’t have anything and we can’t build any of the pro mics because we can’t get parts in.” And so we looked at each other and were like, well, we’ve never done this. It looks really scary. If we fail, he’s awful….Yeah! OK we’ll do it! He had different ideas. He wanted one of us to run all of production, and one of us to run service. But at the time, we really worked well together. So, we were like, hey listen, let us run this together and if you don’t like it, we’ll revisit. If we’re not successful, we’ll revisit. And he was like, “Alright, I’m just waiting for you to f-up. Do it however you want, you guys are young, whatever.” Over the next couple years, there were trials and tribulations. I walked into the purchasing role with no parts, no vendors, no blueprints, no drawings, not really any samples, but a huge back order. So we went through all these hoops and stuff and my partner actually ended up leaving, so it became just me. After we grew some more and got a new CEO, that guy came into the office, who was still a big shareholder in the company, and he just walked up right behind me and you just feel this daunting presence. I’m standing there, and he’s like, “O’Brien, I’m still waiting for you to f*** up.” And I was like, cool! It’s not happened yet! We got this. So I think that was pretty rewarding, someone who has destined you to mess up, and they’re like do whatever you want but I’m waiting for you to have to clean this up – to be like, yeah it’s been three or four years and I’m still waiting. I’d say that’s probably it.

Andrew: For me, I guess as far as what I’ve seen in a studio that was really cool, along what he was talking about was…I was engineering a session at East West Studios in LA, which used to be Cello Studios back in the day. It’s an amazing studio, amazing vintage Neve console, every vintage microphone that you could imagine. The most insane sounding live room you could ever imagine. Most of the drum libraries these days are recorded in there. The music podium that Frank Sinatra used to write his notation on is still in the room. You get goosebumps when you walk into the live room. Me, being an engineer nerd, I clap my hands to hear the reverb of the room, and I’m just like “Oh my god, this is the greatest thing ever”. So we were recording horns and a bunch of live stuff for the Burlesque movie soundtrack, and we had a bunch of kick ass live studio musicians. They’re laying down some parts for the record, and the producer comes in. He’s listening and he says “Man, this is great! Alright, I think we got it guys.” And they didn’t stop playing. “Guys, guys, I think we got it.” And they just kept ignoring him and kept playing and then they started playing into something else. They just started jamming on their own, because they were vibing so much they didn’t want to stop playing. The song was over, and they went into something else. A whole different key, a whole different tempo. They literally jammed for, had to be an hour. And I’m freaking out because I don’t know how long the disk allocation is set on the rig. You can change how long it [Pro Tools] can record, and I’m like this stuff better not shut off. We didn’t end up using the material for anything, but just the vibe of seeing that was just absolutely crazy. So, for in a session, that has to be it. As far as me, personally, my proudest moment was a Grammy nomination. When I got that, and I got to go to the Grammy’s and I saw my name in the pamphlet and all that, I was pretty freaked out.

Becky: That was for Rhianna, right?

Andrew: That was for Katy Perry.

Becky: Oh, Teenage Dream.

Eric: That little record.

Andrew: Yeah, it was OK. Seven number one singles.

Eric: I thought it was eight?

Andrew: It might have been eight. Seven, eight, nine, six?

Eric: Little hits.

Andrew: But yeah, when I saw that I was…I never in a million years would have thought, when I was sitting in the seats you guys are sitting in, that I would get there. I’m just me, any one of you guys could get there too. You just have to work hard.

Callie: I think the most excited I was…the first movie that I worked on. I didn’t even really know what an assistant did and mainly what we do is we take all the production audio that was recorded on set and we build it and give it to the dialogue editor to go through and clean up. And we have to be the communicator with the picture department. So I got bumped up into this position that I had no idea about and I’m having to contact the picture department to get the material. They’re talking about OMFs and EDLs and I’m just like…what is all this stuff? And then I’m getting production dailies on disks that I have to break open to get the data off and…you know, it’s just a learning experience. So the first movie it took me forever to assemble every little piece of dialogue in that movie. It just took forever and it was such a trying experience, and when it was finally over and we went to see the movie in theaters, just to see my name roll across the screen…it was like, OK. It made me feel like all that work, all that headache, heartache, whatever, it all just went away when I got to see the finished product, and know you’re a part of this. And then when you get to hear people enjoy the work that you have helped to be a part of. You know, that’s a big thing. I love it when people are talking about the sound of a movie, and you’re like “Oh my gosh, we did that. I know the guys who worked on that, or I worked on that.” You know, it’s great. It’s just such…there are so many days when you are in there wondering why am I doing this? You know, you’ve just been driven crazy by everything. So those moments, those happy little moments of people saying “that sounded great!” or when I saw my name for the first time. It really was like, woah, this is happening. I never would have thought myself, you know, small town girl, Twilight…

Andrew: Yeah, it freaks you out sometimes.

Callie: It does! It’s weird.

Andrew: Yeah, I used to do construction.

Callie: It makes you be like, OK, this is what all the hard work is for. All those little moments that make you happy and that you become prideful in what you do. And you’re happy for yourself.

Jeremy: Yeah, I would definitely agree with her. Seeing your name roll up on TV or something like that. I’ve had a couple of those that was really cool. You take a screenshot or you gotta download it online. I guess probably my favorite moment, man I’ve had a bunch. I’ve worked with a lot of people. It’s crazy, but my favorite one would have to be the 12/12/12 concert that we did in New York last year for Hurricane Sandy. So Roger Waters is out on stage jamming, and I’m finishing up setting up the Rolling Stones, they’re coming up next. I’m getting everything patched up and once I’m done with their drums and everything I have about another 15 or 20 minutes before the stage turns and it’s the Stones. So I’m done, and they’re playing “Brick in the Wall”, you know, we don’t need no, education. And I’m sitting there jamming watching the screen with Roger right behind me. I’m jamming out, playing the air guitar and stuff. Adam Sandler is standing next to me, and he is playing the air drums, and we are both just singing we don’t need no education, banging our heads. That’s surreal. You set up the Stones, Roger Waters is there and you’re jamming with Adam Sandler. I don’t know where to go from there. That’s nuts! I thought Metallica was that, but it wasn’t. That’s nuts, Roger Waters. Never would have thought, like he said, sitting there like you guys. I never would have thought in my whole life that I would be able to tell Paul McCartney “hey, play your bass. I gotta make sure my truck has got it.” I mean, how often do you get to tell Paul McCartney what to do? Then he gave me the set list, and signed it.

Andrew: “Yeah, could you turn the level up on your bass, Paul?”

Eric: “Paul, I think you need to tune!”

Jeremy: Yeah. And like I said, I’m two years out of this school, so don’t think that you guys can’t do it, or that it takes ten years before you do it, because I just did it.

CRAS Grad Panel Part 2

Posted on May 28, 2013 by CRAS

Following up on our Grad Panel post from yesterday, here is the continuation:

From left to right -

Jeremy Hinskton – A2 Engineer at Music Mix Mobile

Callie Thurman – Sound Dialogue Editor at Wildfire Post

Andrew Wuepper – Mix Engineer, Freelance

Maggie O’Brien – Production and Operations Manager at Blue Microphones

Eric Rennaker – Studio Manager at Bedrock LA

Crowd Question: What advice do you have to give to students who are maybe conflicted between which state they want to go to, or even just cities? Say somebody wants to go to LA, but on the other hand they also want to go to New York, or Nashville, or Chicago…

Andrew: I’m sorry to those of you who are considering New York.

Eric: Don’t do it.

Andrew: New York has kind of dried up. I was just there six months ago and there’s really only about three studios that are moving a lot [of work]. Just the real estate there is so expensive, a lot of the studios really had a hard time when the whole home studio thing and project studio thing became better quality. A lot of people who lived in the New York area built their own places, or they moved to LA. Pretty much everyone that I know is in LA. LA is probably the best place to be at, but I can’t say that for sure because I’ve never worked in Nashville. I’ve worked a lot in Atlanta, and a lot in LA, and there’s a lot going on there. So if you were going to choose between LA and New York, unless there was really some defining reason that you wanted to be in New York, I would probably steer towards LA.

Callie: I’d say also do your research in what you want to do. If it’s music, what kind of music? See where it’s big. I know with film, you know, a lot of the post production is done in Los Angeles. But they’re starting to film a lot in New Mexico, and New Orleans…

Andrew: Pennsylvania…

Callie: So they’re shooting everywhere, so if you want to go into production, you have a lot more options. But for post production, you mainly need to go to LA. It’s also really big in Canada. So my biggest advice is to find out what you’re interested in and do your research on where that’s happening, and do your best to get into that market.

Jeremy: You also really have to do your research too, because those markets are so flooded. Like, all of us are based out of LA. There’s so many people, and that’s all your competition. It really depends on what you want to do. If you’re trying to go for those A-list places or something big like that, you kind of have to do that. But if it’s not really that big of a deal and you just want to do audio or live sound somewhere, and just be happy with that, there’s venues all over the country, know what I mean? It just depends on what your focus is and what your goal is.

Maggie: Be realistic too. You’re probably not going to get paid for a long time, so if you have money stashed or time for a second job, that’s something to take into consideration. I watched a lot of people move to places where “Oh, I’ve always wanted to live there!” Remember, you’re not getting paid to live there. And all those kids that did that, that big kind of pipe dream stuff, they’re not there any more. They’re back home. And there’s nothing wrong with that either, but it’s like, definitely do your research on all fronts. Be realistic. If I need to get a second job, is that doable? You have to be a little bit resourceful with every aspect, not just only your business. Like how do you live, do you have roommates, how do you commute? What’s gas? What’s mass transit? What’s available to me? You really got to go at it practically. You have to get rid of the glam and glitz part of it and get down to the nuts and bolts of can I do this? And can I do it without stressing out too terribly much?

Jeremy: Yeah, and be prepared because LA is expensive.

Eric: But not as expensive as New York.

Maggie: And there’s weather [in NY].

Andrew: And how are you going to have a car to do runs on Manhattan Island?

Becky Fimbres: I want to piggy-back on something that Andrew said earlier about A-list versus B-list studios. Yes, if you work hard and you get into these A-list studios…if you mess up that one time, it could be over for you instantly. You have to face that reality. In a smaller one, sometimes maybe you get that extra little “OK, you messed it up. Just don’t do it again,” kind of pat on the shoulder, but we’ll be watching you. You have to take all of these things into consideration when you’re thinking about big studio versus small studio, and again it’s about educated, researched decisions.

Andrew: The research, to even pile on top of that too…The homework never stops, even after you’ve picked your internship. When you get to a studio, do research on who works there on a regular basis. What producers, what artists? When you’re there for a month or two, or three months, four months, you start to see that most studios are a revolving door of the same clients. A lot of clients like to stay close to home. So figure out everything you possibly can about everybody who works there. What temperature they like their coffee, what chinese food restaurant they like to eat at. If they’ve fired people for stupid stuff in the past. Anything you can do to give yourself an advantage. You’re competing with everyone else in the city, and like he said, Los Angeles is a very competitive market. You have lots of kids out there and lots of people all gunning for a small amount of jobs. So whatever you can do to give yourself an advantage over any of them is what you need to do.

Becky: How important is networking?

Eric: Extremely.

Andrew: It’s everything. Resumes don’t mean anything.

Eric: Networking…one of the most interesting things about working in music, one of the interesting things I’ve found out the most is that I get more clients based off of my friendships with them than any other thing. You come to the realization that nobody wants to spend twelve hours in a room with somebody they wouldn’t want to go get a beer with. I wouldn’t want to hire somebody that I don’t want to hang out with. It’s a comfort level, you’ve got to understand. A lot of the artists there, that’s their creativity. They are paying a lot of money to work in a studio and be creative and just let their ideas flow out, and they can’t do that if they don’t like the person they’re working with. Even then, the networking thing…Speaking of LA, LA is an entertainment town. Even if it’s somebody in film. I meet people in parties and it’s like, “Oh I do film, but I have a friend who is a musician. He’s looking at making a record.” Boom. Client. Shoot, sitting in a Starbucks…I got one of my best gigs sitting in a Starbucks. I overheard a conversation from the table next to me and the guy was bitching about these mixes that this other engineer did. All I did was finish my coffee, and I walked up to him while he was still on the phone and I put my business card in front of him. And he called me two weeks later and it was a month [long] gig. So it’s like the weirdest things. Even when you’re out at a bar, you’re still working because you never know who you’re going to run into. You never know who you’re going to meet. Networking is everything.

Jeremy: Like Andrew said, resumes really don’t matter. They don’t really, you know? When you go through this school and everything and get all the certs…There’s a ton of certs that you can get. I did the same thing, I was like “I’m gonna get every one of these certs and I’m gonna be bad-ass.” I did all that. But when you get out there it doesn’t really matter what certs you have. It’s good because it helps you get through these programs and start to learn these programs. When you get out there, no one cares that you have a piece of paper, they want to see what you can do. So it doesn’t really matter. If you can do it, good, keep on it. If you don’t use it, you lose it. I remember I was doing a session with my boss, it was a small thing. You know, I was Tier 5 Pro Tools and everything like that. So I get out there and I’m doing the session, and I wasn’t working on Pro Tools for a long time, like a year and a half. And I’m sitting there doing this, and I’m like “How do you make a marker?” And I had to ask my boss how to make a marker. In Pro Tools. A Grammy winning…I felt like an idiot. But then again, when you don’t use it, you lose it. So keep on it. Don’t think that just because you have these certs and these pieces of paper that you’re ahead of the game, because there’s a bunch of people that are better than you still. Be humble.

Eric: Also adding to that, you never stop educating yourself. Never. If there’s a new program that comes out, you learn it. If there’s a new plug-in, you learn it. If there’s a new pre-amp, different EQ design, whatever. Learn it. It’s just another tool, you know? I keep asking people…does anyone here know Ableton? [three people raise their hands] Ooh, that’s depressing. Yeah, learn it. I can’t tell you how many artists come in with Ableton. It’s ridiculous.

Andrew: And to me, that’s one of the funnest things about this gig. The technology moves so quickly. The tools are remade and better tools are made. You can never stop learning. I work with guys who have been doing this thirty years and they still learn something every day. Every mix I do I learn something that I didn’t know the mix before. Every song you get is a new challenge. It’s a new approach. That’s the best thing about this. You have a regular job, you go and sit in front of a computer and do whatever, you do the same thing every day, but that’s not the case with this gig. It’s always changing. The sound of music is always changing. Who would have thought that EDM would be on Top 40 radio two years ago? Three years from now, what’s music going to sound like? We don’t know. That’s the beauty of it. But you always have to keep yourself sharp with the tools. These days, with how accessible Pro Tools and these programs are, with your laptop and everything, there really isn’t an excuse. Getting back to what he said about staying sharp…you don’t have an excuse to not be sharp. You may intern for 10 hours a day, and you can go home and sleep for five hours, or you can spend three hours on Pro Tools and sleep two hours. Your competition is going to sleep for two hours. So you gotta do the same, or sleep for one hour.

Crowd Question: I’m interested in doing post production, specifically in New Orleans. I was hoping maybe you could give some advice for those of use who are trying to break into a scene that is in a smaller market than LA.

Callie: I know in New Orleans right now it’s a lot of production. I don’t quite know about their post production. I know production-wise a lot of people are starting to film there because it’s cheaper, and the land is great. I would just do your research, and find out. With it being New Orleans, and it’s the South, I’m sure a lot of people are going to be a bit more friendly than what it is in LA. So you might be able to just go in and just talk to them. But find out if there are post production studios, who you can contact there, send them and email and introduce yourself. Say “I’m looking to get into this. Are you hiring? Do you have any advice? I just moved out here…” Just do your research, try to make some friends and find out what is out there, and what’s going to be available for you. Unfortunately I don’t know a whole lot about how to get on with production and film shoots. I know it’s a very tight little group there. But I know my friends that have done it, they start as a PA, so you become a production assistant on set. Then make friends with the sound guys and just start from there, whether you want to be on the picture side of things or if you want to do the audio. Usually as a PA you can network and work your way into the area that you want to do.

Check out more on this tomorrow!

CRAS Grad Panel

Posted on May 27, 2013 by CRAS

Here at the Conservatory, we do our best to prepare students to be successful in the audio recording and music production industry. We also remember our successes, and do our best to figure out what we did right to make someone’s dreams come true. We bring those success stories back to the school so our newer students can get a perspective on what it takes to be great. Recently we had a great grad panel discussion after hours in our live sound venue. We brought back five of some of the most successful students that we have ever put out to discuss their stories and enlighten us on their paths to greatness.

From left to right -

Jeremy Hinskton – A2 Engineer at Music Mix Mobile

Callie Thurman – Sound Dialogue Editor at Wildfire Post

Andrew Wuepper – Mix Engineer, Freelance

Maggie O’Brien – Production and Operations Manager at Blue Microphones

Eric Rennaker – Studio Manager at Bedrock LA

The amount of talent, skill and experiences between these five CRAS grads is amazing. From working on Oscar winning movies to being nominated for Grammy awards, working with huge bands like Metallica to creating top of the line microphones, our grads have done an incredible job representing the top quality education that our school provides. The panel discussion that they had provided an incredible amount of useful tips, advice and stories that anyone can learn from, so I decided to share this with you all! Hold on tight, here is a huge information dump. The panel was moderated by internship coordinators Becky Fimbres and Rachel Ludeman.

Becky Fimbres: To get things started tonight I want you guys to go down the row and introduce yourselves and give us your stories about when you went to school, your internship, and where you’re at now.

Eric Rennaker: I’m Eric Rennaker. I graduated from this fine institution in March of 2005, where I was placed at Westlake Studios as an intern. I spent six years there and worked all the way up to one of the contract engineers. I then went freelance and am currently working as a studio manager and head engineer of Bedrock LA.

Maggie O’Brien: My name is Maggie O’Brien. I graduated here in April of 2007. I would say my path here was sort of all over the place. I did an internship at a private studio, and then was kind of interested in the business side of things, so I took a side internship at a marketing company, and I just kind of messed around with that a little bit and found out that that wasn’t my bag. At the end of this internship at the private studio I was at, there was kind of this whole stigma of internships where you’re going “OK, I’ve done an internship, I’ve got to get hired.”

Well this was a temporary studio. They just rented a house to make the record in, so I started sweating that a little bit, and ended up networking with the company that furnished all the gear for the studio. After that gig ended, I ended up going to work for the gear rental company, under the condition that they were a new company, they needed help getting set up, and in return they would show me every studio in town because we’d be running gear to them. So I did that, saw some studios, and ended up working at a pretty decent studio for a while. I kind of got anxious there again, and Blue actually was doing some expansion and I knew a couple people working on production, so I started answering phones there and have just kind of been there for five years. Now I run all of productions and operations on the US side of things.

Andrew Weupper: I’m Andrew Weupper. I graduated in I think June of 2006, and moved out to LA the day that I graduated. I was an intern at Larrabee Studios in Universal City. I interned there for 7-8 months and I just got kind of lucky enough to have fallen into a position being assistant to one of the greatest engineers ever – Dave Pensado. He kind of taught me the ropes. I worked under him for 2 1/2 years and now I’m a freelance mix engineer. I started out tracking and mixing and now I’ve just gravitated to more of just mixing these days. I took kind of a traditional route, from runner to assistant, to branching out to engineer, so that’s my story.

Callie Thurman: Hi, I’m Callie Thurman. I graduated in July of 2005. From there I originally wanted to get into cartoons, and when I was researching for my internship I found this studio that mixed for Family Guy. I was able to get into there, it was called Wilshire Stages at the time, and I was able to get in there as an intern. Then I went from an intern to a runner. Then our studio got bought by two mixers and we became Wildfire Studios. At that point I was bumped up to an assistant sound editor. I’ve been assisting for the last five years, and every now and then I’ll do some dialogue editing and recently I’ve done some ADR editing for Olympus Has Fallen. That was exciting. So that’s pretty much where I’m at, on my way to becoming an editor, but yeah, started as an intern and worked my way up.

Jeremy Hinskton: I’m Jeremy. I graduated here in 2010, I believe it was October or November. I went to intern at 4th Street in Santa Monica and that was really a freelance-type gig. You don’t really get hired on as a runner or anything like that, you pretty much just have to work your way up and hopefully you’ll get paid for some gigs or something, and that wasn’t really working out for me. So I was trying to decide if I was going to go somewhere else, or do something else. I ended up getting hooked up with M3, which is Music Mix Mobile West, Mark Linett, and it’s a satellite record and broadcast truck. We do a lot of all the big Grammy’s, movie awards, and all that stuff. Big shows all over the country. That’s pretty much what I’m doing now, other than being a freelance mixer and producer, working with artists in LA and Phoenix.

Becky Fimbres: Awesome. So now you guys have some of their history from leaving CRAS to where they’re at today. I actually want to ask one question to get things started. Anytime I tell a story [about our grad's success], kids are like “yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re here. Let’s hear it from them.” I want you to tell me, was the internship what you expected?

Eric Rennaker: Yes.

Becky: Care to elaborate?

*laughing*

Eric: In my situation, I interned at Westlake. I kind of had this idea in my mind that it was very intimidating because when you’re doing your research, you look for where you want to go, you look through the artists that have worked there, the records that have been made there, and so I was quite intimidated by just the list of amazing artists, and records, and producers, and engineers. It was everything that I expected it to be, just in the way of there being a very high level of work ethic and expectations from you. There’s no half-assing anything, you either give it everything you’ve got or nothing at all. I expected the studio manager to be pretty intimidating, and he was very intimidating person. But you know, you get to know him. It’s kind of one of those things where you’re new to a studio, and you do feel intimidated, but then you realize “OK, these are people who have been in pretty much the same exact position that I have at some point in their life.” You start to build your relationships with them, and start to network with them. That’s really one of the biggest parts about your internship, it’s just getting to know people, making connections with people, because that’s how things actually get done.

Jeremy: Mine was really easy actually. 4th Street is a really chill studio, it’s not like Westlake or some of the bigger studios like that, so… It’s really cool, because here [CRAS] they teach you that when you get out, you’re nothing, you know what I mean? You’re just going to make coffee and clean everything. At 4th Street you did make coffee and clean everything, but you got to be a part of sessions. Every session that was there, [you were] setting up mics and doing patching if you got in good with the engineer, whoever was running it. So my experience interning was a lot different than that, it wasn’t intimidating at all. The only thing that was intimidating was not knowing something because you are fresh out of school. But other than that, the people were very chill, it was a very easy work place so it was nice to get a lot of hands on stuff going on there. Except it’s freelance, so you don’t get paid for anything, there’s no runner, so you gotta work, work hard, and work long.

Andrew: I would say that the most important thing about when you get out there to intern is to keep an open mind. When you get there, you’re literally nothing, like you’re invisible. But the way I approached it was to always be the best at whatever job I was required to do. When you get there, in your mind you have this goal that you want to be the best possible engineer that you can ever be. But when you get your internship, you have to be the best floor mopper, the best phone answerer…the jobs there aren’t necessarily glamorous, but you have to approach it like you are going to be the best that ever did this. Like, if I was called upon to clean one of the lounges, when I walked in there I would be like “this is going to be the cleanest lounge in the entire city of Los Angeles.” And you do that. Sometimes it can get frustrating because you feel like it’s completely unnoticed, like nobody pats you on the back, nobody says “hey, great job on the lounge.” But it doesn’t go unnoticed. So, to persevere and realize, and keep in the back of your mind, that even though you’re putting in all this time that seems like nobody’s noticing it, somebody is noticing it. And one day, just out of the blue, all of the sudden, someone’s going to be like “Hey, you. You cleaned that lounge six months ago, it was the best lounge I’ve ever seen. Get in here, get on this session, work with this guy.” And you’ll be like, oh shit…you’ll be thrown off by it. But that’s kind of how it works, or that’s how it worked for me. When I got my opportunity, I never in a million years was expecting to wake up and get that opportunity. I was thinking it was going to be a year from then, two years from then. But all of a sudden it just pops up. You never know what’s going to happen.

Everything that you do, every way that you conduct yourself within the studio and the professional environment, you have to be the best that you could possibly be. The best food runner, the best everything, and that’s going to carry over to when you move up the ranks. You become the best assistant, to the best engineer. All those things. There’s a reason why this system has been built this way over decades. It’s because that’s the way that it has always worked. That’s how you find the people that can do it.

Jeremy: That’s also what’s expected of you. Everybody above you already knows because they’ve done it.

Maggie: I think that even if you’re not the best, you’ve got to be the most enthusiastic.

Andrew: Yeah, you’ve got to think you’re the best.

Maggie: You’re going to do the shittiest things you can ever think of, but if you’re like “God, this is the best thing that I’ve ever done”, that also shines through. There’s going to be things too, that you’re probably not qualified for, not comfortable doing. But yeah, it’s like, I’m all in, I’m willing to do this. The skill set, absolutely that’s important, but you can’t forget about attitude either.

Andrew: You have to walk into a room acting like I was always taught…I was always taught as I was coming up that if you walk into a control room, act like you are supposed to be in there. You throw people off when you act all uncomfortable. Even if you’re not supposed to be there, you carry yourself like a professional, even if it’s your first day on the job, and people will notice that, and respect that.

Crowd Question: Do you think it’s best to shoot for the Class A studios and get that mark on your resume, even though you know it’s such a competitive place that you may not be able to touch a piece of gear? Or is it better to back off a little bit and work for a studio that’s a little bit smaller in hopes that if lightning strikes you’ll get in the control room some day and actually do something?

Jeremy: Well, it really depends on your scenario. I don’t know how old you are, or how old these guys are, but I was 30 years old and when you’re living in LA… I was just talking to them about having an interview with Paramount when I was trying to get out of 4th Street, and I had a second part time job working at the Whisky. I’m like, I’ve got this job and I really got along well with the studio manager at Paramount, and she was like “OK, well, you’re gonna be a runner at $8 an hour starting out. That’s what everybody starts out at. And you’re on call 24/7.” So I can’t have a second job? She said no. Well, I don’t live with my parents, how am I supposed to eat off $8 an hour, part time, in LA. It doesn’t work. So I needed to find a different route. I would have loved to be in one of those A-list studios because of the gear and the history and everything. The engineers there are immaculate. But you never know what’s going to happen. Luckily I fell into an engineer’s lap, you know. He just won his third Grammy at this last year’s Grammy’s, and that’s my boss. I go to his house and do stuff. So I didn’t get to go to the A-list thing, but all the gigs that I am doing are A-list gigs. And the people that I’m working with are the people that record at these studios. And I’m working with them every month. So it really depends on your scenario. I couldn’t afford to do that, so I had to find a different route.

Maggie: That’s the thing too, you really need to not focus so much on the A-list, B-list, C-lists…but more on what is beneficial for you. How many people are so focused on the A-list that if something doesn’t work, or you can’t do it, there’s going to be how many other people in line? Where if you can get into something smaller, if that’s what you’re into, you can get your 1-on-1 experience and then you network your way out of that. Yeah, it might not be your A-list or whatever, but you know your stuff and you know your principles, and you know how to deal with people. So I think there’s value pretty much wherever you’re going. I would definitely say don’t chase a title, though. Follow your gut, you’ll know if something feels OK.

Andrew: There’s success to be made in both lanes. If you go the A-list route, you may have the chance to be around the company of bigger names and bigger artists, bigger producers and bigger engineers, but it may take you longer to actually get to be in the room in that situation. You could get lucky, and it could happen quickly, but it’s just to me, the harder you work, the more positions you put yourself in to get lucky. If you go the A-list studio route, you have to convince yourself that it is all or nothing. Essentially you have to become obsessed. There’s going to be other people who are obsessed, and those are the people you’re competing with. In this industry it’s always sizing up your competition. You’re gonna get more hands on experience in a smaller studio, and you’ll probably have an edge on your competition. It’s like she said, it’s all about how patient you want to be. You’re gonna need more patience in a big studio environment, and a bigger opportunity may come in a bigger studio, but it may take longer. You may become a better engineer in a smaller studio because you will have gotten to engineer more. Through that you could end up in a big studio as an engineer, not even as an assistant, you could end up working there manning the whole gig because of the experience you had in a smaller studio.

Jeremy: It takes some luck. It takes knowing people, and meeting people, and being friendly. I haven’t been involved as long as a lot of people, actually all of these guys here. I haven’t been doing this as long as they have, I’m two years out of school. Not saying you’re old, but you know who Roger Waters is, right? Two years out and I’m working with Roger, and it’s like…that’s crazy to me. You know what I mean? I didn’t go to an A-list studio, I don’t know SSL forwards and backwards like I did when I was here at CRAS, every single day working on it. So it’s really on what you do.

Read more on this insightful panel tomorrow!

Album Of The Week: Talib Kweli – Prisoner of Conscious

Posted on May 24, 2013 by CRAS

CRAS Grad Chris Pummill is riding high on the coattails of a once in a lifetime opportunity. Finishing the CRAS program in 2011 with a 3.79 GPA and perfect attendance, Chris has lucked out with this latest peg in his recording career, coming by way of assistant engineering on Talib Kweli’s latest record.

Released May 7th, the album hit #48 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold over 10,000 copies the first week it was out. This is a stellar follow up album from one half of the Black Star duo, and features guest appearances from a number of artists, including Nelly, Curren$y, Kendrick Lamar, Ryan Leslie and Busta Rhymes. Here is a little breakdown of Chris’ experience working on the record:

“I believe work on this album started in the fall of 2010 and when I got the chance to start working on it, it was my first day at Rough Magic Studios in April 2011. I had just interviewed and was slated to come in the following Monday when I got the call to come intern/assist at the last minute. After that 1st session, I ended up assisting on most of his sessions alongside Alby Cohen (engineer).

Originally, the setup was a Neumann U87 Ai (roll-off engaged) going through an Avalon VT-737sp. On the Avalon, we would do light compression (around 3:1) and very light EQ. Later we switched to the AKG 414B XLS (cardioid, 6dB pad, and 40Hz roll-off). Combined with the Avalon, the 414 did a good job of rounding out the highs that are synonymous with his voice. The U87 was great, but was a bit harsh and brittle at times. Recall of his usual settings and mic placement was very important as he was the type of artist that would just walk in and go! He would give Alby time to check the level and signal quality but more than a minute and you were just taking too much time.

There were a few sessions where I had to fill in for Alby either because he had Jury Duty or because he was sick. Right then I learned the importance of working quick, precise punches, following lyrics without a guide and NEVER RECORD OVER TAKES WITHOUT DUPLICATING THE TRACK FIRST! It was a serious “Baptism by Fire.”

Although there are a lot of great featured artists on the album, we only had 1 or 2 come through the studio. However, we did get to work with a slew of amazing session players. On songs like “Human Mic,” “Hamster Wheel,” and “Before He Walked,” we recorded with string players Chad Hammer and Gene Back. Due to the fact that it was just a cello and violin, we did layer after layer of the same parts and then added more layers of harmonies and little flourishes to make 2 guys sound like an entire string section. We direct mic’d the violin with a Nady RSM-4 ribbon mic (which sounded amazing despite its cheap pricetag), the cello with the EV RE-20 and used a U87 Ai over each of their heads to get a more ambient sound. The 87s ran through the Focusrite Red 8 mic pres and the direct mics ran through a couple of API 3124 pres.

On “High Life,” we ended up replacing the bass and guitar parts in the original beat with live guitar and bass by John Cave and Brady Watt. The bass went direct through the Avalon 737 with 5:1 compression and light EQ, which was a very common setup for bass in most of our overdub sessions. Guitar went through John’s pedal board into an Orange Dual Terror head into a Marshall half-stack. On the cab, we used an SM57 off-axis through the Joe Meek VC6Q for a gritty sound, the 414B XLS (6dB pad) through the API 3124 for a bright tone, and a U87 Ai in Omni as a room mic going through a Vintech 473. We got an incredibly clean and balanced sound with this setup, which I have now adopted (minus the room mic). In most of these OD sessions, Talib was not on hand to direct the players and trusted Alby to essentially produce the parts along with the players.

For most of the songs with features, Alby would have to import session data from outside sessions and marry our sessions with theirs. However, that wasn’t always the case. On “Rocketships,” we only had an mp3 bounce (vocals and instrumental) of the Busta Rhymes verse that we had to fly in, meld, and balance with our instrumental track. Mind you, this was a song produced by RZA and therefore was pretty much impossible to get on the grid. The final version of the song turned out great, but it was a nightmare to manage between studios and producers.

It was an incredible experience to work with someone that I’ve listened to and been a fan of for years. I learned a LOT and get to have my name next to some hip-hop greats.”

Sometimes in the music industry, it takes years to get a chance like this, and it was incredible to see Chris literally get dropped right into the lap of greatness, working on an amazing session right out of school. Congratulations Chris!

Grad Spotlight: Sorrel Brigman

Posted on May 22, 2013 by CRAS

Graduating from the Conservatory in 2009 with a 4.0 GPA and perfect attendance, Sorrel Brigman has gone on to do great things! After leaving CRAS, she moved out to Nashville, TN, and did a ton of internship work, including working at the famous Blackbird Studios. She got to work along side all sorts of incredible talent, including Steve Marcantonio, who has credits working with artists from Jewel to Vince Gill, Taylor Swift to Carrie Underwood and so many more.

Recently, Sorrel made it in the cover story piece for Mix Magazine this month. She has been working at RCA Studio A, also known as Ben’s Studio. Ben of Ben Folds Five now owns the place and has put it to good use. The studio has quite a bit of history, originally being known as RCA Victor Nashville Sound Studios. Built by Chet Atkins, the facility had a ton of major names swing through over the years. Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, and even Dolly Parton, who recorded “Jolene” there.

In 2011, they upgraded the studio console to a classic API 3232. When Ben Folds first moved into the studio, he primarily used it on his own, but in the past 5 years they have been bringing in other clients – Kellie Pickler, Willie Nelson, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood and Alejandro Sans.

I caught up with Sorrel a little bit, and this is what she had to say:

“I’ve been at Ben’s Studio for three years this month. I started as an intern but have been an assistant here for almost 2.5 years. In addition to assistant engineering, I’ve lately also been doing some assistant managing for the studio as well. The room is amazing and the studio manager, Sharon Corbitt-House, brings in some amazing clients. I have had the privilege of working with Ben Folds Five (naturally), Alan Parsons, Kelly Pickler, Willie Nelson, Jerrod Neimann and Elizabeth Cook, just to name a few. It has been quite an amazing ride.

Some of my common intern tasks at both my internships (Ben’s and Blackbird) included session setup and tear down, being a runner (to go get supplies for the studio and meals for clients and staff) and lots of cleaning. It’s not to say that my supervisors were behind me forcing me to clean stuff, but taking care of the studio is a labor of love.

And there are plenty of uncommon tasks as an intern. At my first internship, the owner of the studio loved Dr. Pepper and the ice from Sonic (I mean, who doesn’t, really?) We had a Sonic ice maker at the studio, but the owner did not have one at his house. It was not entirely unusual to take two cups full of Sonic Ice and a cold 6-pack of DP to the owner’s house at night, leave them outside the gate. Only certain interns were trusted with this task because the owner was insistent that the buzzer not be buzzed (and thus disturb his family that was sleeping). I did that run a few times.

Another time as an assistant, I was covering for an assistant friend at a different studio. After the session as we (the intern and I) were tearing down, the client used the bathroom. He flushed the urinal and walked off. We walked by the lobby and heard a gushing sound. The urinal was stuck in flush mode and water was pouring out everywhere. We managed to get the water to stop, but clean up was a challenge. The intern was new and didn’t know where things were stored. I didn’t normally work there, so I didn’t know where things were stored either. The only mop we could find was rusted together (yes, rusted). We ended up cleaning up a small lake of pee water with paper towels and no gloves. It happens.

I have gotten a few album credits. That’s pretty exciting. You can check out my allmusic pages (one under Sorrel LaVigne, one under Sorrel Brigman).”

Sorrel LaVigne’s Credits at AllMusic.com

Sorrel Brigman’s Credits at AllMusic.com

Congratulations on doing an amazing job! I remember having you as a student and I knew you were destined for great things!

CRAS BLOG

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Category Archives: Grad Spotlight

The Great Gatsby Soundtrack: Special Edition

Grad Spotlight Follow Up: Eric Nichols

CRAS Grad Panel Part 6 – The Finale

CRAS Grad Panel Part 5

CRAS Grad Panel Part 4

CRAS Grad Panel Part 3

CRAS Grad Panel Part 2

CRAS Grad Panel

Album Of The Week: Talib Kweli – Prisoner of Conscious

Grad Spotlight: Sorrel Brigman