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People ask me all the time (well, at parties and when I'm at work, which
combine for a good 99% of my waking hours) how THEY can become record
producers/engineers, too.  Well, my route into the biz involved years of
practice, some gear investments, and 4 years of forgettable college.  But I
have some employees who are going at it from square one.
 
Here's the test I give prospective recording assistants.  Maybe it will help
others decide whether or not they're up to the challenge...or whether or not
this is really what they want to do...

{ed I kept the best questions}

= FACT HQ EMPLOYMENT QUIZ =
 
You have 150 bars at 120.0 bpm to complete all sections.  Multiple choice.
 
 MIDI is:
   a.  A skirt length.
   b.  Noon, in Quebec City.
   c.  A combined hardware/software protocol for the transmission of
       digital musical information.
 
 
 You've budgeted $3000 to buy sampling equipment.  You:
   a.  Spend $2500 on a Roland S-550, and $500 getting the manual
       translated.
   b.  Spend $1300 on an Ensoniq EPS, another $1300 for a backup unit,
       and $400 on an extended service contract.
   c.  Buy 37 of those little Casio or Radio Shack deals, sample one sound
       into each, and never shut them off.
 
 An arranger asks you to lay down an acoustic guitar track.  You don't
   have any decent acoustic guitar patches/samples, so you:
   a.  Dial up a MIDI BBS and download some samples, record the track,
       and wait for the arranger to be impressed.
   b.  Whip out your editing software, create a patch from scratch, record
       the track, and wait for the arranger to be impressed.
   c.  Spend a few bucks, hire a real guitar player from the local
       musician's union, record the track, and wait for the arranger to
       tell you how fake it sounds.
 

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