Jordan Valeriote is a professional audio engineer, producer and studio owner who has shared a powerful video on how he burnt out working in pro audio production. He also shares five ways to a healthier life in the studio.
We’ve spoken about maintaining both good physical and mental health in the pro audio business on many occasions. You can see some of them below.
In his excellent YouTube video “The Dark Side Of Audio Engineering” he speaks of how it affected both his physical and mental health. Jordan says;
“The point of this video is just to help you achieve those things without sacrificing the rest of your life. So if I could sum it all up, I would encourage you to take the long view. This is a marathon. It's not a sprint. So be okay with taking some time away from the studio. Be okay with saying no or losing out on projects. More will come and you need to stop thinking in terms of next week or two months from now and try to think in terms of three, five, 10 or 20 years in the future.”
Jordan also outlines ways to protect yourself and build a lasting career. We’ve listed them briefly here, watch the video to see the detailed reasons for each.
Establish regular hours.
Charge more.
Say no to projects that you really don't want to do.
Invest eagerly in tools that save you time and make life easier.
Recruit assistants to help lighten the load.
Hang out with other producers and mixers, preferably in person.
Structure your projects for variety.
The video is excellent, we can’t commend it highly enough. If you don’t have time to watch it now, bookmark it and watch it when you have a second.