[B]eing an audio engineer is one of the most creative, demanding lines of work in the entertainment industry. Enduring long nights, as well as hours and hours of recording sessions are just part of the job. The pressure of recording and capturing those perfect moments can be intense, since there might not be better subsequent takes.
For those that have the stamina though, the job can be extremely rewarding. To be intimately involved with artists as they create their art is a dream that is shared by many. It can be a rewarding career choice as well, since engineers are eligible to receive awards from organizations like the Grammys, Audio Engineering Society (AES) and the Cinema Audio Society.
So, the next time you’re riding in your car, take a listen to Jay-Z’s track “This Can’t Be Life” from The Dynasty album. The clarity in Jay-Z’s vocals, the balance between the bass and the snares and Scarface’s heart-wrenching verse. It’s no accident. Sure, technology has done wonders for recording, whether at home or in a studio, but there will always be a need for a human in the process.
When Jay-Z was in the studio with Scarface, the pair were shooting pool with Baseline’s engineer, Gimel “Young Guru” Keating. Young Guru, who decided on a career as an engineer after taking a six-month course at a studio in Maryland, was put in a high pressure situation the moment Scarface’s phone rang.
According to a story told by Jay-Z in the book “Decoded,” a child of a friend of Scarface’s had just died in a fire. “When he got off the phone, I told him ‘Yo, we’ll get the verse another time.’ He went off on his own for a while to compose his verse. When he came into the booth to record, he laid down the verse that’s on the album in one take,” Jay-Z said.
While you may have to gain some experience to handle your cool in at tense moment like that, the sound engineer of the track, Young Guru, is offering up the technical knowledge in a $20 class to learn audio recording. A class for $20 from the man who mixed the sounds for 10 out of Jay-Z’s last 11 albums.
Thanks to a deal with Skillshare.com, Young Guru teaches two courses for educational website, Skillshare.com. The first course is titled “Capture Sound: Introduction to Audio Recording.” The course teach students how to record their own professional audio tracks at a fraction of the cost of a traditional school that has similar offerings. The course is not easy however, as it will take one college semester to finish.
“I’ve created this Skillshare class to best help you bring your recordings to life with the effects you want, regardless of the price point of your equipment. This will all be presented through exclusive videos and written direction,” Young Guru said of the course.
For the capturing sound portion, students will learn audio physics, how to select a recording space, how to position microphones and instruments and other essential recording techniques.
The second course will put the skills that were learned in “Capturing Sound” to the test. “Sound Check: The Essentials of DIY Audio Mixing” features Young Guru offering up instruction on how to properly mix a recording to professional standards. For $20, it’s information that cannot afford to be missed, if one is serious about beginning a career, or gaining more knowledge to sharpen skills already possessed.
“It’s a situation where the places where you would go to get that information are slowly but surely, dying out. Recording used to be ‘black art’ because it’s passed down by word of mouth,” Young Guru said. “Yes there’s science in it, but things that make particular engineers special were things that were passed down to them. So that’s the complete reason why we want to take this information and make it available to the public, so the art form doesn’t die.”
Check out Young Guru’s courses on Skillshare.com.Â
