I'm an audio engineer (live and studio), producer, musician, and author. Anyone who makes it into the world of music an audio, eventually develops a skillset that includes some musical insights, some technical insights, a formidable desire to succeed, passion for great music/audio, and a huge capacity to persist where others might give up!
Through school, hard knocks, online courses, and now a healthy dose of Google, it's possible to build a very functional technical and/or artistic skillset. But, a very exciting part of the journey through a career focused on the disciplines of music and audio is the realization of where you fit into the mix—or sometimes where the mix creates a you-sized hole.
It used to be that everyone wanted to work in a big fancy recording studio because that was the ticket to being part of great music—I still love recording and producing projects in a big fancy studio, by the way. But your skillset, today, can take you into so many exciting activities that you never even thought about loving to do.
Granted, music production at the highest level is available to all without the need for studio fat-cats ("the man") or record execs—see: Macklemore and Billie Eilish/Finneas O'Connell! If making music is your dream, go for it, and go for it with all your heart! Don't be denied! Persist! Adjust! Repeat! Take heart that a career in music and recording—well, pretty much any career—is a lot like songwriting. A great song is often rewritten, even if subtly, dozens of times before the song blossoms and starts touching hearts and changing lives. And often it’s that one last subtle lyric change that can bring a tear to listener’s eye. Keep an open mind and keep tweaking your career until it blossoms.
Here's the really exciting part. Your unique and exciting path lies right in front of you. You might find your way in audio production, audio for video games, musical composition, the broadcasting field, film sound and music, equipment design, manufacturing, sales, podcasts, video production, advertising, corporate presentations, and this list goes on and on. You don’t need to be a rock star to build a great life in music. But, there is one constant no matter where you find yourself thriving in your creative pursuits. Go for it! And, go for it with all your heart! Don't be denied! Persist! Adjust! Repeat!
I’ve done so much in this musical world. I’ve recorded and produced LOTS of albums (Uhh…CDs, projects, streams?); I’ve worked on films, written and produced music for video presentations; I’ve played thousands of gigs on drums, guitar, bass, and keys; I’ve produced and mixed an amazing blend of genres from pop to rock, alternative to symphonic, punk to rap, to vocal dowap groups to choirs, symphonies to country, rock-a-billy to urban, and grunge to bluegrass. I’ve produced countless instructional videos, and I have written and developed more books and videos than I can count—many with some of the music industry’s most lauded icons, such as Quincy Jones, Bruce Swedien, Al Schmitt, Dave Pensado, Sylvia Massy, Ed Cherney, Chuck Ainlay, Elliot Scheiner, Frank Filpetti, and George Massenburg! And, get this, I love every second of everything I get to do! And, believe it or not, I really couldn’t play all of these games without a tool belt that included my recording and musical skills.
I encourage you to be open to opportunities that come your way. Be courageous! I’ve worked a lot with the METAlliance group (www.metalliance.com). A mantra among these industry icons is “Always say yes.” Each member of the group has at some point had the courage to take a gig that was new to them. We all have to do that at some point. Always be about getting better. Prepare! Success happens when preparation meets opportunity. But, once you have your tool belt filled with musical and technical skills, be bold and always be willing to apply them to the unique opportunity that opens before you. Go for it! And, go for it with all your heart! Don't be denied! Persist! Adjust! Repeat!
I started teaching guitar when I was 12 years old. I was a pretty good young player and my dad asked me if I would consider teaching one of his friend’s kids to play guitar for $2.50 a lesson. I couldn’t have said yes faster! I Teaching has been a big part of my life since that first guitar lesson. I had a full schedule of private students all through Jr. High, High School, and college. I was an Education major right up until I was set to student teach but got hired by Green River College as a music teacher when I was supposed to student teach so I finished my degree in composition and arranging. I was always very into recording and quickly ended up as the chief engineer at a studio in the Seattle area where I started teaching recording classes through an RIAA franchise. That eventually led to teaching my own series of private classes in a large studio downtown Seattle. That led to the creation of my first instructional video with a buddy, Bob Slous, who had video gear and expertise. That all lead to creating a series of instructional cassettes for a small publisher who never paid my royalties, which all lead to writing three books for MixBooks in 1995. Since then there has been a long list of books and videos. I taught recording at The Art Institute of Seattle for a while, became way too busy to keep up a teaching schedule because an intense music production and publishing schedule, and I’m still always producing and/or recording a music project, doing live sound, writing books, helping develop other content creators, and I teach one course at Berklee College of Music Online. I’ve said “yes” to a boatload of new things for a long time!
It’s a privilege to be able to share some of the things I’ve discovered about this wild world through the books and videos I’ve written, produced, and developed over the years. I hope that the fact that I still DO all of these aspects of the audio/music industry helps me explain concepts in a way that is easy to grasp. I love giving back and being at least a small part of helping raise the bar for music creators. And I love inspiring folks to go for it! And, to go for it with all your heart! Don't be denied. Persist! Adjust! Repeat!
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