I realize this might be a very long shot, but I’m a beginner sound engineer, musician and producer.I’ve been working in a home studio for years, with pretty near zero budget. My main DAW has been Ardour. Meaning I have not been building skills specific to more traditional commercial DAWs like ProTools or Logic.
Currently my situation is very volatile. There is only so much time you can live without revenue after all.
As such I’ve been looking for positions anywhere in the EU (or the UK), as perhaps a studio hand, or a junior sound engineer.
The few offers I’ve found require skill with ProTools or Logic. Sometimes Nuendo/Cubase. And while I can tell them a DAW is a DAW and I can learn, I’m out-competed by anyone fresh out of a vocational school.
This is might be silly of me to ask. But would any of you regulars be looking for someone for work?
If not, what is my best course of action to keep working in this field? (my musician career is starting to pick up, but not enough to sustain me)
Thank you in advance for your answers.
Also, I realize this is way out of left field, and if this topic is not appropriate for the forums, please by all means delete.
I sympathize with your situation, you definitely have a knack for Audio production but I would make a fairly educated guess that almost nobody here is using Ardour professionally in a large enough context to carry a paid employee. Our Studio has paying clients on occasion but anything made quickly gets mopped up into gear maintenance or improvements and that’s in a case where I own the building. In fact I’ve had about $1500+ worth of gear die this year alone, one company (IK Multimedia) doesn’t even carry replacement parts and the other piece of gear will cost more to fix than is feasible. All this to say that Studios are about as profitable as restaurants… and that is in the best case scenario…
You might want to post over at the Harrison Mixbus forum, It’s based on Ardour so you’d already be up to speed on much of how it works and Harrison has an impressive hardware console pedigree but I couldn’t guess how much of the Harrison software DAW side is employed in large commercial Studios, couldn’t hurt to ask…
Have you looked at ways of diversifying your income, insofar as that’s possible? It might feel like a long shot but I reckon it’s more feasible than it appears at first glance and might be worth investing time into.
Eg. have you looked at things like foley, sample bank creation, editing podcasts and audio books, working part-time in retail (like a guitar shop or an audio hardware supplier or something), buying broken hardware online and renovating / refurbishing it and selling onwards, etc?
My point is - it might be hard to convince potential employers that your Ardour skills are applicable to applications like Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase et al but it may be easy to convince yourself that many of your skills and much of your knowledge can easily be transferred to other tasks, roles and endeavours.
I sympathize with your situation, you definitely have a knack for Audio production
It’s silly, but this means a lot. In a world of harsh hustle culture and competition it’s nice to hear kind words and validation.
All this to say that Studios are about as profitable as restaurants…
I figured as much. I was always curious about the economics of running a studio given all the operating costs of such a business. I’m not too surprised. and I’m sorry it’s so rough for you.
You might want to post over at the Harrison Mixbus forum
Honestly I might. It’s not a bad idea. I posted here first because my work is more known of the community.
I used to sell a sound bank that sold reasonably well, that would give me the odd 50-100 euros a month passively. The platform it was on struck it down. I’m in the process of improving it and making it available somewhere else.
I have done foley and audio editing for films for the past 4-5 years, but those gigs are few and far between, not exactly sustainable. And generally very poorly paid.
I also do bulk ASMR audio editing for vtubers and various online SWs, it’s a nice bit of pocket money when I’m approached for a batch, but again. Not consistent.
I also have had a few gigs for video games, I give mixing help calls for various producers in exchange for tips, I’ve been paid to compose soundtracks for adult films…
I’ve been offered to help an audio hardware supplier in September. Which I will I do. And I’ve taken up assistant showrunner for a new upcoming festival in Leeds.
As for unqualified part-times they simply aren’t available here. I look regularily. Only full time jobs at the IKEA warehouse or stocking shelves at a supermarket. I’ve tried music store every chance I got for the past 10 years. Always ending up getting turned down in favor of business degree interns.
I do flip gear when I can! I even make DIY mics (one of my creations is now the forever Kick In mic at Fillowport Studios in ATL). I am just a little limited in what I can pick up money-wise.
The wildest part in all of that is that so far overall my best revenue stream has been the sale of CDs on Bandcamp.
I don’t think it makes sense to question whether Ardour is suitable for professional use — it is. If someone specifically requires Pro Tools, Nuendo, or Logic, so be it. Just keep doing your thing with what you have and make the most of it. Try to get some paid gigs along the way too. The journey is what matters, not just the destination.
and that is in the best case scenario…