Get Yoshed is excited to welcome back Grant Greene in this week’s post!
Hi everyone! It’s been awhile since you have seen me on getyoshed.com. A lot of things have happened since Yosh’s and my first blog. In what may seem a bit of irony, I have gone back to school to finish up my undergraduate degree. If you recall, Yosh suggested that I needed to take a ProTools training course. As it turned out, I did have to take a hard disk recording class as part of my degree. While it might seem there isn’t a lot to learn in an intro to hard disk recording class for someone that has been working with ProTools and other hard disk recorders for over 15 years, I did learn a few tips and tricks, but what I learned the most was a few perspectives of the up and coming engineers in this business and the instructors teaching these students.
During one of the first discussions of the class, the instructor asked the class what made each student hirable in the industry. Most of the students answered that their personality, or good attitude, made them good candidates to be hired at a studio. The instructor quickly dismissed these claims and said that to him, as a studio owner himself, knowledge and skills were more important than anything else. While I agree that you need to be smart and have a knack for learning quickly, I disagree with him that attitude takes a back seat to how well you know how to record, mix, or wire a studio. Over the past 11 years, I have learned A LOT watching Yosh work. I can’t recall once where he told a client that something couldn’t be done. You give Yosh a problem, he will find a solution. While this might seem to validate the opinion that knowledge is more important to attitude, it is actually the opposite. It’s Yosh’s attitude that drives him to come up with a solution to any problem. He might not know the answer immediately, but he will come up with one, if not five. This is what makes a great engineer in my opinion.
Over the years, Yosh has had many interns and I can tell you this, while most had the “chops” to be successful recording engineers, few had the right attitude. The right attitude makes up for any lack of knowledge. Back in the “day”, there were no schools for recording. Those interested in breaking into the business didn’t walk into a studio with the knowledge to run a large format console, multitrack tape machines, and all the outboard effects gear. They weren’t expected to be able to record a full band or mix an album on their first day either. What they were expected to do was to make coffee, answer phones, get things for the clients, clean the studio, and keep their mouths shut. So you might ask yourself, how did they learn? Well this is where attitude comes in. Those with the drive and determination found a way to learn. If they were told there was a session at 10 a.m., they would arrive at 8 a.m., or earlier, to be sure everything was in order and help the client set-up for the session. If they were told that they only had to work until 5 p.m., they would stay to 2 a.m. to help the assistant engineer tear down. If there was no session happening at the studio, they would ask the studio manager if it was o.k. if they used the studio to hone their chops. Those with the right attitude can always learn something they don’t know. Working in an industry where things are rapidly changing, we are constantly having to learn. There is no way we can know everything about every piece of gear or software out there, but we can have an open mind and a drive to educate ourselves and add more tricks to our arsenal.
In my next appearance here on getyoshed.com, I’ll touch on things interns should and shouldn’t do in the studio.
- Grant Greene
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