First Weeks, coffee, and audio consoles.

I am Elizabeth Shaher. I am an Audio Engineering student at the University of Rochester, and I have been the intern at Tapeworks for 2  weeks. I was (and still am) extremely excited to get this opportunity.

On my first day, I came in at 9am and got to really see the studio, as an employee for the first time. Kyle took me on a full tour of the studio, and briefed me on the work that was being done. Currently Tapeworks is working on a UCONN a cappella group’s album. I, of course, was also taught how to make the coffee (because are you really an intern if you don’t make coffee?).

I got to sit in on a mixing session with Bill, and an editing session with Kyle. Both of these sessions were very interesting, because they were so different from anything that I have seen before. Bill uses plugins that I didn’t even know existed, and while I understand what they do, it is very cool to learn new ways to mix music. Editing large sessions on protools was pretty new to me as well. I have done minor edits on pieces before, but none like the ones Kyle was doing. He encouraged me to ask questions, and showed me functions in pro tools that I hadn’t really encountered before.

Closer to the end of the session, Kyle and I got onto the topic of social media, and how tapeworks is branded on sites like twitter, facebook, and instagram. He also told me about our mini sound of the week series.

On day two, I walked in to see a desk that was set up with a computer for me to do work on. Bill and I talked about what my jobs would be as an intern and what I would end up learning throughout the summer. I got to work, trying to figure out how to execute certain aspects, like writing this blog, or researching clients. I spent a lot of time doing an analysis of our instagram account, trying to see what type of content gets the best reception from people. I then got to sit in on a continuation of the mixing session that Bill was doing the previous day. After he finished mixing the song that he was working on, he started set up for a recording session later that night.

Bill wanted to track some drums for the song that was going to be recorded that night. We already had a rough cut of the song.  So on my second day working at tapeworks, I not only got to be a drummer (for the purpose of making sure we had some signal), I got to step behind the desk and do a little bit of recording. This was my first time recording something where the preamps weren’t built into the board. After a few takes we finally got a take that we felt worked for the song.

Day two was also the day that I got to meet clients for the first time, and sit in on a recording session. The clients were incredibly friendly, and it was so much fun to see them play, and mess around with way the song was played. We also came to the point where the drums that Bill and I recorded didn’t really work with the artist’s vision of the song, so once again, I got to step behind the desk and do a little bit of recording.

Day three started with me tearing down the studio from the night before. It may sound a little strange, but tear down is actually a great way to start your morning. It gives you the same productive feeling as cleaning, and wrapping cables is weirdly relaxing. I also got to sit in on another editing session with Kyle. He showed me the melodyne software and how it is used to tune tracks, something I really haven’t done before.

I spent a lot of my time today exploring the Tapeworks website, gathering photos for twitter, and looking into places where I might be able to find clients. I was also told to brainstorm new ideas for the sound of the week. And I finally got around to starting my blog.

I ended the day with setup for a vocal session tomorrow. Yes, I started my day with a tear down, and ended with a setup.

So we started day four with meeting, which for me was my first meeting in a professional work environment. I also learned how to use a French press to make coffee.

An artist came in to record a song with Bill, so Kyle and I spent the afternoon discussing how I should contribute to the social media sites and the blog. I also got a chance to water the piano. I did not know that pianos needed to be watered (the humidifier needs to be filled with water) until I started working here. I ended my day by assisting in recording Sound Of the Week.