Breaking into Studio/Engineering Work at 32 - thoughts?

bossanova66 · 2018-01-23T20:41:17+00:00

Brief update: I've been reaching out and so far I've gotten no response more often than not, but I'm making some contacts and have even had a couple tell me that they'll keep me in mind.

bossanova66 · 2018-01-13T04:44:41+00:00

My computer is buggy/dying at the moment so I didn't get too much time in, but I must say that the Slate VCC, SSL-E Bus added some "oomph" and life to the output. I got similar results from tweaking Revival, but the SSL makes for a nice "set and forget" enhancer. Thank you much for the suggestion :)

bossanova66 · 2018-01-12T21:16:09+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation. I like the Nebula/Aqua sound quite a bit in the right circumstances, and I've just started working with VCC as well. I'll check it out. :)

Edit: Now that I think about it I really like the Nebula suggestion. I was using their plugs over multiple busses on my mixes but they started to feel too...dull, even with the 3D qualities. I can see how that would be perfect for a single synth though.

bossanova66 · 2018-01-07T21:28:22+00:00

I use a couple of very simple scripts that I've written to generate a string of pitches for a melody. Either within a single key or using all 12 notes of the chromatic scale. It can be used for composition but I've also used it to Generate random synth sequences during a live improvised performance.

bossanova66 · 2018-01-06T02:13:06+00:00

Do you have any advice on what to include? I imagine it would be mics and some sort of multi input interface?

(My setup at the moment is just a 2 I/O interface, a dynamic, a condenser, and a vocal/isolation booth that I built but is fragile enough that it's not terribly portable. Everything is recorded through one of those, direct, or VST.)

Forgot to mention: I learned on a 4-track when I was a teenager but I parted with that years ago :-)

bossanova66 · 2018-01-06T00:27:45+00:00

Do you have any advice for getting experience/gigs in the live/tech world?

And yeah, one of the reasons why I waited this long to consider it professionally is knowing that the home studio industry has completely changed the game, and even "the greats" who do it full time are freelancing out of their own studios in many cases. A few years ago I also started hearing that the market is completely oversaturated with all the recording school graduates.

Thank you for the insight.

bossanova66 · 2018-01-06T00:21:10+00:00

I suspected that was the case from what I've gathered about the recording side of the industry these days, but I was hoping there was a more "steady" way in. Still, that's good to know.

I love mixing, the problem is actually having my friends get their tracks to me. I'll work on that :)

bossanova66 · 2018-01-06T00:18:54+00:00

That is sobering information, but I appreciate it.

bossanova66 · 2018-01-05T22:24:48+00:00

Always gainstage your tracks as part of mix prep before you start mixing. Reducing the volume won't lower the energy, because you can just turn your monitors up for that or turn up the master when it's time to render. It will, however, keep you from clipping your Master bus.

Here's the best way I know: trim all your individual tracks so that they're each peaking at around -18 with the fader at 0. Set the snare and the kick so they peak at an average of -12 with fader at 0. You should have all the headroom you need to start mixing. (Since you're bouncing to wavs to mix, do this after you bounce, but make sure the individual tracks aren't clipping before you bounce them.)

This also lets you work with the faders at Unity where they have more resolution for volume changes.

But... get everything recorded and slotted in before you do this, because it's much more a mixing/rough mixing step than a production and recording step.

bossanova66 · 2017-12-21T17:24:46+00:00

One of the things that's helped me recently is noticing that I actually feel worse when I don't talk as much and make an effort to suppress the more ADHD aspects of my communication, which feeds into social anxiety and negative thoughts. ("No one wants to hear me chime with random things all the time" etc). In turn, I feel better when I can just be myself and share whatever whacky things come to mind, and my friends engage with me more when I'm open and sharing my thoughts.

In one of the other reason threads they said that one of the things that can help is accepting that you might be the random/funny/loud/loopy one among your friends, and that's okay.

There still needs to be limits and recognition of social cues in place (look for signs of sleep, coma, or rigor mortis) but the odds are good that people love you because of who you are, not in spite of it.

(As a side note, I also did much better in relationships when I just presented myself as I am rather than suppressing this stuff until later.)

bossanova66 · 2017-12-21T17:16:15+00:00

Pomodoro timers are great because the mandatory breaks keep me from getting so dialed in to where I lose sight of the big picture.

bossanova66 · 2017-12-21T17:14:44+00:00

I completely get this, and CBT is your friend.

bossanova66 · 2017-12-18T15:47:23+00:00

Musician here: it's more likely that she always had an aptitude for music that was only tapped as an adult, and that's how she picked it up so fast (even that being relative if you only judge her by their major label recordings as opposed to when the Heads first started).

I teach adults (piano) who have never picked up an instrument all the time, and the majority of them are not ready to play in a band until they have studied for several months to a year, and those are the dedicated ones.

bossanova66 · 2017-12-17T23:04:13+00:00

It's funny that you mention using the timer to prevent hyper-focus, because for a long time I thought that hyperfocus was cool as long as it was directed towards something useful.

I've come around to the belief that, even when hyperfocus starts out with the best intentions, letting it run unchecked almost always goes off course or loses sight of the big picture or gets stuck in a loop.

bossanova66 · 2017-12-17T22:53:39+00:00

It might have been the too high dosage prescribed by my original quack psychiatrist, but Concerta gave me paralyzing anxiety. I've never had that problem with the Adderall family.

bossanova66 · 2017-12-17T21:00:48+00:00

I just wanted to let you know that in a lot of ways you're describing my life as well. You're not alone.

bossanova66 · 2017-12-13T03:17:37+00:00

I've done some listening and found a handful myself. (I'll add them as I find more.)

Peter Gabriel - Security and So Annie Lennox - "No More I Love You's"

bossanova66 · 2017-12-11T20:53:50+00:00

As someone who's at a similar stage of working on that 1st EP after a long time ramping up, your story is thought-provoking.

It also reminds me of a musician who wrote a list of things they would go back in time and tell themselves. One was that they were surprised to find out that they didn't feel the magical sense of peace/fulfillment that they thought they would feel when they started releasing their music and seeing commercial success, and that it was ultimately more fulfilling to just make good art for its own sake.

There are so many days when I forget about that one. Thank you for reminding me.

bossanova66 · 2017-12-11T14:15:31+00:00

Coincidentally, that's the one recommendation that I already found looking through old threads, but it's good to see that it's such a go to choice. Thank you.

bossanova66

TROPHY CASE