Before I can give an opinion on this matter, I need to hear an engineering reel; recordings of drums, acoustic guitars, vocals, mixes, etc..., and a list of the equipment and such that his reel was recorded on, and a list of what he's skilled at operating.
Engineering is a real if underappreciated art form, and like all art forms, requires a combination of stamina, technical facility, and probably most importantly, a genuine passion for the form.
It's a business that asks everything from its adherents, and gives them very little in return.
The hours it requires are very rough. It's very hard on families. The starting pay is very low. The maximum pay that an engineer will make after years of staggeringly hard work is probably little more than 500 a day, and that's after a few hit records.
The "superstar" engineers can charge 1000 a day, but only as
long as they're "hot", and even then people gripe about the cost.
Mixers can make piles of money, sometimes as much as 10 thousand a song, but mixers of that caliber are few and far between--, and even for them, the amount of time that they are "hot" enough to demand those kinds of fees are notoriously short.
On the other hand, it is a fascinating art/science, and if that is enough to sustain a fellow, and if he is talented enough, he can lead a very interesting life.
It's a tough one, though, that is a very hard job.
As an example, my assistant, Jesse Fishman, went to NYU, studied Music and Engineering there. He apprenticed under
a a very successful and well-known producer/engineer named Matt Hyde and worked on several hit records with him. He's 26 years old. He owns his own ProTools system ($20,000) which he's been letting me use essentially for nothing. He works six days a week, with unpredictable hours, sometimes staying at the studio so he can be there early enough. I'm very lucky to have him. For this I pay him $2500 a month.
He deserves 3 times as much, but such is life. Maybe someday I'll be able to pay him what he's worth. He has no wife or children, and given the hours he works, has little time to go find one.
I dont know. Engineering is really a tough job. He has to really want it, and be really talented and committed, and be lucky, too. Bill Bottrell, Jimmy Iovine, Brendan O'Brien, Dave Jerden, Glyn Johns, Alan Parsons all started out as engineers, and have prospered and done amazing things. But, theyre very unusual stories, and it's sort of like saying,
well Michael Jordan does alright, and he's a ballplayer.
But by all means, please ask your son to send me a reel, so I can judge for myself, and I can give you both a frank
and confidential assessment.
I hope this is of use.
Yrs,
David Baerwald
Engineering
B
Baerwald
(view)
Before I can give an opinion on this matter, I need to hear an engineering reel; recordings of drums, acoustic guitars, vocals, mixes, etc..., and a list of the equipment and such that his reel was recorded on, and a list of what he's skilled at operating.
Engineering is a real if underappreciated art form, and like all art forms, requires a combination of stamina, technical facility, and probably most importantly, a genuine passion for the form.
It's a business that asks everything from its adherents, and gives them very little in return.
The hours it requires are very rough. It's very hard on families. The starting pay is very low. The maximum pay that an engineer will make after years of staggeringly hard work is probably little more than 500 a day, and that's after a few hit records.
The "superstar" engineers can charge 1000 a day, but only as
long as they're "hot", and even then people gripe about the cost.
Mixers can make piles of money, sometimes as much as 10 thousand a song, but mixers of that caliber are few and far between--, and even for them, the amount of time that they are "hot" enough to demand those kinds of fees are notoriously short.
On the other hand, it is a fascinating art/science, and if that is enough to sustain a fellow, and if he is talented enough, he can lead a very interesting life.
It's a tough one, though, that is a very hard job.
As an example, my assistant, Jesse Fishman, went to NYU, studied Music and Engineering there. He apprenticed under
a a very successful and well-known producer/engineer named Matt Hyde and worked on several hit records with him. He's 26 years old. He owns his own ProTools system ($20,000) which he's been letting me use essentially for nothing. He works six days a week, with unpredictable hours, sometimes staying at the studio so he can be there early enough. I'm very lucky to have him. For this I pay him $2500 a month.
He deserves 3 times as much, but such is life. Maybe someday I'll be able to pay him what he's worth. He has no wife or children, and given the hours he works, has little time to go find one.
I dont know. Engineering is really a tough job. He has to really want it, and be really talented and committed, and be lucky, too. Bill Bottrell, Jimmy Iovine, Brendan O'Brien, Dave Jerden, Glyn Johns, Alan Parsons all started out as engineers, and have prospered and done amazing things. But, theyre very unusual stories, and it's sort of like saying,
well Michael Jordan does alright, and he's a ballplayer.
But by all means, please ask your son to send me a reel, so I can judge for myself, and I can give you both a frank
and confidential assessment.
I hope this is of use.
Yrs,
David Baerwald
Engineering is a real if underappreciated art form, and like all art forms, requires a combination of stamina, technical facility, and probably most importantly, a genuine passion for the form.
It's a business that asks everything from its adherents, and gives them very little in return.
The hours it requires are very rough. It's very hard on families. The starting pay is very low. The maximum pay that an engineer will make after years of staggeringly hard work is probably little more than 500 a day, and that's after a few hit records.
The "superstar" engineers can charge 1000 a day, but only as
long as they're "hot", and even then people gripe about the cost.
Mixers can make piles of money, sometimes as much as 10 thousand a song, but mixers of that caliber are few and far between--, and even for them, the amount of time that they are "hot" enough to demand those kinds of fees are notoriously short.
On the other hand, it is a fascinating art/science, and if that is enough to sustain a fellow, and if he is talented enough, he can lead a very interesting life.
It's a tough one, though, that is a very hard job.
As an example, my assistant, Jesse Fishman, went to NYU, studied Music and Engineering there. He apprenticed under
a a very successful and well-known producer/engineer named Matt Hyde and worked on several hit records with him. He's 26 years old. He owns his own ProTools system ($20,000) which he's been letting me use essentially for nothing. He works six days a week, with unpredictable hours, sometimes staying at the studio so he can be there early enough. I'm very lucky to have him. For this I pay him $2500 a month.
He deserves 3 times as much, but such is life. Maybe someday I'll be able to pay him what he's worth. He has no wife or children, and given the hours he works, has little time to go find one.
I dont know. Engineering is really a tough job. He has to really want it, and be really talented and committed, and be lucky, too. Bill Bottrell, Jimmy Iovine, Brendan O'Brien, Dave Jerden, Glyn Johns, Alan Parsons all started out as engineers, and have prospered and done amazing things. But, theyre very unusual stories, and it's sort of like saying,
well Michael Jordan does alright, and he's a ballplayer.
But by all means, please ask your son to send me a reel, so I can judge for myself, and I can give you both a frank
and confidential assessment.
I hope this is of use.
Yrs,
David Baerwald
