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get the gear delivered or packed up." When he
leaves the office at the end of the day, he
is still on-call 24 hours a day.
POINTERS FOR THE JOB SEARCH
Working for a studio rental company is a good
beginning job for those interested
in becoming studio engineers and producers,
because you get an opportunity to
become familiar with, and use, cutting edge
equipment. When delivering equipment,
you meet individuals who work at recording
studios. A basic knowledge of equip-
ment is required and can be gained through
taking recording or electronics classes,
reading and studying about equipment, or
interning at a recording studio or rental
company.
JEFF ALTHEIDE, MANAGER, DREAMHIRE
Jeff Altheide grew up in Evansville, Indiana
where he learned to play the guitar
when he was eight, later switched to bass, and
played in local bands throughout his
junior and senior high school years. After high
school, he continued to play music for
a few years until he heard of a recording
engineer class offered by Recording
Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio. After completing
the six-week crash course, he
returned to Evansville to find a job. "It's a
good-size town, but not overloaded with
recording studios," Altheide recalls. "In 1989,
I decided to move to Nashville because
CASE STUDY:
THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE
JOB:
"It's time consuming at times; being on call,
keeping the phone around,
but it gets easier. I'm the manager and
responsible for the amount of busi-
ness that we do, so I'm happy to see the phone
calls come in."
THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB:
"Being around the equipment and learning about
a lot of different aspects
of the recording industry. The whole idea of
rentals got started because
technology started growing so fast, with so
many different pieces of equip-
ment coming out, that there is no way a studio
could afford to keep up. I
get to go to trade shows and meet people from
all over the country that
have new pieces of equipment--gear that all of
those studios can't afford
to buy. We go out and buy all those pieces of
gear and rent them to the
studios. And, we get to use the gear whenever
it's not being rented. That's
always a plus if you're a musician and getting
your own recording projects
going."
VOICES
OF
EXPERIENCE
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