How To Start A Career As A Freelance Engineer
Years ago, there was a tried-and-true method for becoming a recording engineer. You would find a studio willing to hire you as an intern, and work your ass off for a few months. Eventually you would catch a break and get asked to run a session. Slowly, you would start to get more work and climb your way up the ladder, until you became a full-fledged engineer with your own interns to boss around.
It was the circle of life for audio engineers.
Unfortunately, there are no “Help Wanted” signs hanging in the windows of today's recording studios. Hell, some of today's studios don’t even have windows.
If you want to make a living as a studio engineer, one way to take control of your career is to go into business for yourself as a freelancer. That can be a scary thought for a lot of engineers. Most of us got into this business specifically to avoid getting a job that requires a lot of paperwork.
Unfortunately, as many talented musicians will tell you, being good simply isn’t good enough — you’ve got to get people’s attention. You may be the best engineer in the world, but it doesn’t do you any good if the only person who knows is your local guitar shop manager.
You need to be proactive. You need to be an active member of your music scene. Most importantly, you need to make sure everyone knows that you’re an affordable, quality engineer.
This is an excerpt from How To Start A Career As A Freelance Engineer, originally published by Vintage King. Read the full version here.
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