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Re: Career in audio a worthwhile endeavor?When I got off the road with a rock band, I went back to school and got an Associate of Science degree. I was trying to decide whether to go to University of Miami and study music and audio production under the direction of digital audio whiz Ken Pohlmann, or go into a more traditional engineering field. I chose the safer non-audio path and it has been very rewarding. But I also kept playing in bands and collecting sound gear, and people kept calling me to hire out my system when I wasn't gigging myself. I am handing most of the work to my youngest son these days, and it's a nice sideline for an 18 year old. He is also trying to figure out where this will lead him. On the face of it, you'll be doing a lot of running if you are a tech or an operator, or even in the install biz. Very few people in this business have a nice 9 to 5 type of job with benefits, unless your a gear salesman at Sweetwater or something. I have often commented to my friends that I've often found it's harder to land a $500 bar gig than a $500k contract in my regular field. Easy choice for me, because I have multiple interests and enjoy them all. The few people I know who are full time and successful are obsessed and would never accept doing anything else for a living. The music industry, including live audio, is one where there are so many willing to settle for so few table scraps, just to be a part of it.
Re: Career in audio a worthwhile endeavor?
When I got off the road with a rock band, I went back to school and got an Associate of Science degree. I was trying to decide whether to go to University of Miami and study music and audio production under the direction of digital audio whiz Ken Pohlmann, or go into a more traditional engineering field. I chose the safer non-audio path and it has been very rewarding. But I also kept playing in bands and collecting sound gear, and people kept calling me to hire out my system when I wasn't gigging myself. I am handing most of the work to my youngest son these days, and it's a nice sideline for an 18 year old. He is also trying to figure out where this will lead him. On the face of it, you'll be doing a lot of running if you are a tech or an operator, or even in the install biz. Very few people in this business have a nice 9 to 5 type of job with benefits, unless your a gear salesman at Sweetwater or something. I have often commented to my friends that I've often found it's harder to land a $500 bar gig than a $500k contract in my regular field. Easy choice for me, because I have multiple interests and enjoy them all. The few people I know who are full time and successful are obsessed and would never accept doing anything else for a living. The music industry, including live audio, is one where there are so many willing to settle for so few table scraps, just to be a part of it.
