APRS STUDIO <
together when you’re making a recording. Of course that is subjective and it’s affected by the genre that you’re working in. But there are so many people that want to get careers in this area and, to that end, it’s important that these people should have some sort of selling point; a USP. Either they have a particular sort of music that they’re particularly good at, or they know about how to accurately record acoustic music, and that very often moves them away from home recording and into actual commercial studio work. “Almost anybody can get started in recording for very little
money, so it’s a matter of skill and talent and how much you really want that career.”
This brings us to the issue of how aspiring engineers acquire their know-how and how that has changed over the years. There was a time when the wannabe record producer had only one real option when it came to learning his craft – to get a meagrely paid job as a tea boy in a big recording studio where he would do whatever godforsaken task was asked of him, while watching intently at every opportunity and daring to ask
“
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It is possible to make multi- track recordings at home, but to do so effectively you need to have a basic understanding of acoustics. Peter Filleul
questions only when the session was over and the cables were being coiled. Today, of course, funds allowing, he can enrol on one of a multitude of ‘audio engineering courses’, which may or may not stand him in good stead for a career in the industry. Unfortunately, audio schools, like recording studios, vary wildly in terms of quality. Fortunately, the APRS, in partnership with the MPG, has something of a solution. “We have a perspective on audio education, just as we do other areas of the industry, explains Filleul. “We are in partnership with the Music Producers Guild and a thing called JAMES, which stands for Joint Audio Media Education Services. The idea of JAMES is to try to provide an industry opinion of the value of a particular audio course because there are so many of them that, in fact, it is possible to spend
all your money – or all your parents’ money – and end up with a piece of paper that is totally worthless. And we like to discourage that by providing opportunities for courses to be properly accredited by the industry.” This, combined with the association’s workshops and seminars, which last year included initiatives such as the masterclasses at British Grove Studios with revered producers Chuck Ainlay and George Massenburg, is helping to connect would-be engineers who are genuinely committed to a career, with some of the brightest minds in the industry; people who can really show them how to turn their determination into gainful employment. “The APRS can be the interface between experience and aspiration, continues Peter Filleul, “and this is what we’ve really been trying to do for the last five or six years, since we’ve had younger people such as Wes Maebe on our board. We’re going to have another drive towards that as well, because young people get older and it’s easy to lose touch with the generations that are just breaking through.
“We are here to respond to what our members’ position is, and their activities define what our interests are,” he concludes. “People work in an entirely different way now. People are not necessarily involved in standard studio relationships, they’re most probably involved in working in production rooms, or maybe they move from one place to another. And they can do their stuff at home or they can work in a hotel or even on the road. There are an awful lot of ways to become involved in professional audio nowadays and, of course, the APRS has to represent all that, which I think our board is starting to do. We still have a focus on experience, but we are encouraging a much better connection with the new generations of aspiring audio professionals.”
aprs.co.uk
audioPRO May 2011 47
Above left: APRS board members on hand at last year’s AES show. Above right: George Massenburg has been involved in the association’s initiatives.
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