It's easy to forget how much you know, that may sound like an oxymoron but what I mean is that if you've been involved in audio for a significant amount of time there are so many things that become second nature. Spending time with a novice engineer will probably remind you of this sooner rather than later, and it’s an opportunity for both to learn from each other.
Hopefully an old hand won't see an ‘experience gap’ as anything other than an opportunity for mutual growth. As somebody who spent many years teaching audio students I know that I've usually learned at least as much as my students in every session I've taken, just different things than my students got from it. An environment that encourages growth rather than belittlement is essential for the progression of the industry as a whole.
This article aims to shed light on some commonly overlooked aspects that experienced audio engineers often take for granted.
Cable Management
Learning how to treat cables is every bit as relevant today as it was in the analogue days. Everything from the hotly debated subject of how to correctly coil a cable through to the considerable variety of cable types and connectors that we have to navigate even in these days of in the box production. Whether you are a hard line over/under cable coiler or more moderate, as long as you're not doing the ‘mower flex' technique around your elbow you're probably fine. However I know from experience that handling cables isn’t as straightforward as we sometimes think. The next time an intern runs out a mic cable the wrong way round be nice to them, just tell them to visualise the connector on the back of a microphone and they’ll never get it wrong again.
Mic Technique
While a novice might approach recording primed with detailed knowledge of microphone types and techniques, it's not unlikely that much of this knowledge will be secondhand and not based in experience. Microphone selection is of course important in our recent article Audio Professionals Talk About Their Mic Choices we saw that experienced professionals do enjoy quality microphones. But where those microphones are placed usually makes more difference than what the microphone is. Often microphone placement and polar pattern selection is made as much with a view of what to keep out of the microphone as much as what to capture. Microphone placement is really important and while experimentation is a crucial part of any engineer’s development, it's not appropriate to waste a clients time trying every possible permutation during a session.
Experienced engineers have years of accumulated knowledge to fall back on and while there is no direct substitute for this, sharing knowledge is always a good thing, particularly face-to-face.
Signal Chain
In these days of in the box workflows you might think that with less hardware to deal with signal flow is less important. There is a degree of truth in this, fewer components does mean fewer potential points of failure. However the basic techniques of fault-finding remain unchanged whether work is occurring in or out of the box. Diagnosing where a missing signal is going missing in a potentially complicated system involves tracing that signal from point to point and changing one thing at a time. It takes experience to appreciate the fact that “everything works until it breaks” and while that lead might have been working fine yesterday it doesn't follow that that means it can't be the culprit for the stubbornly absent signal you're trying to locate.
DAW Proficiency
Most novices are perfectly aware that proficiency in your DAW of choice is important, and unlike studio based skills its easy to get unlimited practice time in a piece of software. But any DAW is a deep and complex thing. Operating it quickly with a minimum of fuss is the hallmark of a power user. Understanding that the way to impress a client isn't to showcase your Pro Tools chops but instead to make sure that they don't think about or even notice what you're doing with the technology. Making sure that it just happens without the client having to think about what the operator is doing is much more ‘Pro’ than being noticed.
EQ And Compression
A novice may wonder why it is that an experienced professional’s use of EQ and compression seems to be so much more effective than their own. It's natural to focus on exactly what particular parameter is set to or which specific plug-in was chosen, but the difference between and effective and a less effective move happens before the hand moves to the knob or mouse. Correctly identifying the issue and understanding how best to address it takes experience. For example understanding the relationship between volume automation and compression for controlling levels or the interaction between tracks and understanding when an EQ cut somewhere else may be more effective than a boost.
File And Session Management
In a world driven by digital technology, organizing files logically and creating secure backups are not just conveniences but necessities. Failing to manage files efficiently can result in a catastrophic loss of work. Everyone needs their ‘oh shit!’ moment when a drive won't mount or a file won't open. It’s hard lesson but one that you never forget. It's an important mental transition to make when an engineer starts dealing with someone else's data or data that has been or is being paid for by someone else. That sinking feeling you might of got when you thought your dissertation was lost is nothing compared to thinking you might have lost somebody's album project.
The importance of careful labelling of elements in a session really come into focus once other people become involved in projects and this is something that a novice may not have yet experienced. The quickest way to appreciate the importance of clear and comprehensive labelling comes when you receive a session from someone else rather than being the person doing the sharing.
Terminology
Lastly, when engineers speak to each other jargon is rife. It's difficult sometimes to appreciate exactly how much jargon and acronyms are used in day-to-day conversations within the industry. Technical terms like "dB" “HPF” or "LUFS" can be intimidating to a beginner. Shorthand can be bewildering and it’’s important to remember that suggesting trying a “slap on the plate” sounds like nonsense to the layperson. Professionals use these terms daily, often forgetting that it took them time to integrate these into their working vocabulary. Being aware of this is usually a good thing!
Conclusion
As professionals, it's crucial to be mindful of the challenges faced by those new to audio engineering. A little empathy can go a long way in fostering an environment that is conducive to learning and professional growth for everyone involved. We were all new once…
Photos by Dima Novozhilov and CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash