Passing On Experience

As I often do, I've been pondering education in sound engineering and what it is that teachers actually do for their students.

Teachers serve two primary purposes – the teaching of facts and techniques, and the passing on of experience.

Clearly the teaching of facts and techniques is vital, so I won't dwell on that. I will, on the other hand, be dwelling on the passing on of experience.

When it comes to a subject like audio engineering, facts and techniques are only half the game. It's the personal experience, hard won through trial, error, conscious experimentation, accidental experimentation, brutal failure and glorious success, that is the real treasure that teachers have to offer, and which contributes so much to continuous evolution of human knowledge. Learn from the mistakes of the previous generation, so you can spend your time learning from new mistakes that you can then pass on to the next generation, and so on.

When you watch, for example, the marvellous Marcel van Limbeek (Please use link: https://www.soulsound.co.uk/recording-vocals) in full flow, you can't help but be drawn in. The knowledge that is so fascinating to receive is not the fact that the U87 has switchable polar patterns. Its the intimacy of knowledge that Marcel has of this mic that makes you understand not only the mic itself, but also years of accumulated knowledge about when and how to deploy it to it's best purpose. It's one of those times you don't know how much you don't know until someone starts speaking about it and a whole new layer of understanding is opened up to you.

Experience is naturally gathered over time, which is why many people start doing a bit of teaching here and there later in their careers. They feel that having had a whole career behind them they now have knowledge worth sharing. And they do so generously.

And by experience I don't just mean experience of where to put the mic and how to work with gain structure, but also of the lifestyle and what it's like to be working in the top end of music production and touring. Having access to people like this also shows you that it is entirely possible to have a successful career in the audio industry – and can help you visualise exactly what it is you want out of your own career. If you don't know what your dream looks like, it is all that more difficult to pursue. That's why people like Marcel are so fantastic to learn from. They have lived the life of a sound engineer and they know. 

So that's what we at Soulsound are trying to achieve – the passing on of facts, techniques and above all, experience.

Words of Wisdom

Here are a few examples of things that only come through experience...

Marcel van Limbeek on Recording Tori Amos' Piano & his Favourite Effects

Justin Grealy on Life On The Road & Stage Turds 

Jon Burton on Making It Louder in the Milton Keynes Bowl & Guitar Tips For Recording And Live

Darryn de la Soul on Getting A Foot In The Door & Setting Yourself Up For Success As A Freelancer

Use the code "soundgym25" and get a 25% discount for ann Annual Soulsound Membership.