How to get a job at a recording studio – a brief guide

So you want to record in a recording studio? The problem is, so do a lot of people. It is possible though, and there are a couple different ways you can get into a studio-based career. Be prepared to work hard and be poor for a while though!

First off is the education option. There are loads of degrees out there from a wide range of universities. Some of them are more relevant than others but offer a similar kind of
thing. Personally I would be a bit wary of music production/technology courses. This is mainly because working in a studio is all about experience. The best thing you ca do to prepare yourself is become fluent in Pro-Tools, Logic and the like. Lot of the stuff you’ll learn on these courses will be useful if you’re setting up your own studio, or producing from home, but if it’s a job in an established studio you’re after they may not even be fussed about you having a degree at all. So I’d go for a slightly less specialised degree that at least gives you a bit of insurance if you don’t get that lucky break in the industry. That said, some courses are professionally associated with some big names in the music industry. I believe the Tonmeister course at Surrey has been known to offer placements at big London studios (Abbey Road, anyone?), so it’s definitely worth looking at work placements and years out that your course may offer.

The other option is to go out and get some experience, and this is where the role of the lowly Assistant Engineer comes in. He’ll be the youngest at the studio basically in charge of making cups of tea. You don’t get paid, and you don’t get a lot of respect, but the idea is that you work your socks off and impress everybody you can by proving your worth. Gradually you ought to acquire greater responsibilities, and more importantly experience what it’s actually like to work in a recording studio. There aren’t usually a lot of assistant engineer jobs or internships knocking around, and they’re barely ever advertised because most studios are inundated with requests for internships. What you’ll have to do is just contact as many people as possible, and keep trying. I got my first job as an assistant engineer because the studio owner happened to be reading his email when I contacted him! You don’t need to be very qualified; you just need to be keen, hard working and easy to get along with to start.

To start you off, here’s some of the big London-based companies you should be familiar with:
Amati
Miloco
Air
Angel
The Chapel
Eden
RAK

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