Q-Eight,
If one is actually
Serious about a
Career as a Mixer/Engineer......
Being an actual
Professional Mixer/Engineer is a long hard road.
It is, (among other things), a real engineering job.
Also, there are thousands of people all going for the few jobs that do exist.
It requires a knowledge of technical, musical and business skills.
I often tell my assistants, "Mixng is easy! It's all the other stuff that's hard!"
Playing around with a computer & sound editor software is analogous to being a fast food cook.
Sure you're cooking food, but it doesn't mean you're even close to being a skilled Professional Chef who prepares meals commercially.
My advise is usually "Find some other career. You have about the same chance as you do becoming a rock star or famous movie actor!"
In a nutshell though, here is how it usually goes.
(Be prepared, it's pretty bleak!)
1- Get several years of musical and technical education under your belt. (A college degree helps nowadays, though a degree was not even available back when I started...) (2-4 years, at least).
2- While getting your education, start working as an intern making coffee, sweeping floors, answering phones.....(no pay).
3- After that, get a job as a general assistant at a studio, making coffee, sweeping floors, answering phones.....(6 months to a year minimum wage).
4- Finally you get into sessions as an assistant engineer. This is where you find you will probably have to relocate to somewhere else as no major clients will regularly work outside of the major media centers. (another year)
5- Get a job as a general assistant at a
Majorstudio, making coffee, sweeping floors, answering phones.....(another year).
6- Work a second job, so you can pay your rent.
7- Finally you get into sessions as an assistant engineer (again). This time you are working on major label product. (Because you now have to work 20 hour days you will no longer have the second job with the steady income).
8- Work very hard on all the lame sessions so that you can start moving up the ladder to work with all those mixers you've heard about (another year or two).
9- Work even harder under one or more of those 'name' engineers. (This is where you will finally be learning the real craft of the job.) When not assisting these people: practice, practice practice. (another couple of years).
10- If all goes well, get a lucky break and do some small engineering jobs for some real paying clients. If they like your work and hire you again you are now a real, (though still underpaid), engineer! (another year or two).
11- Cultivate more clients and establish a reputation for yourself. Start to earn a decent living. (another couple of years)
12- Ooops, technology and/or musical tastes change!!! Go back to #10 (#11 might not take so long this time, if you're lucky)!!!!!
There!!! Now in only a short 10 to 15 years, (of hard work, no money, no social life and working on music you hate), you have your career as an engineer. Glamourous, ain't it!!!!
Of course there are many other sound related fields that you could investigate such as live sound, audio for video, mastering, authoring....
Some of these are easier to get into than others.
Good Luck
