We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Bourget a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Daniel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear a story from back when you were an intern or apprentice. What’s a memorable story you can share with us?
I served as an intern for over a year, however I have assisted many other engineers over the years as a means to gather knowledge. I think it is very important to learn under an experienced mentor in whichever field you choose to pursue. The best use of this time is to observe their techniques and efficient solutions to issues that may arise. The more people you learn under, the more styles you can observe/absorb. Over time you will build a stockpile of techniques. Then you will have the ability to execute those techniques in your own style. Always be learning no matter how far into your career you are. Collaborations are another known gateway to growth and knowledge.
Daniel, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I have always loved music more than any other “thing” in this world. However it took a couple decades (and challenging situations) to really do something about it. I finally decided I too could work in the music industry. Since I was kind of a late bloomer in the business of music, I decided to go to school (The Recording Arts Center) for audio engineering to try and catch up. I spent around 750 hours in the studio during that year long span of schooling. While also learning engineering 7 hours a day, 5 days a week.
Throughout this time I was trying to learn as much as possible. Eat, sleep, breathe recording. Along with this I was assisting other successful engineers and cultivating a wealth of knowledge based in experience.
After going to school (TRAC) I got hired on as a staff engineer at one of the biggest studios in San Diego: Studio West. I began with simpler sessions and slowly got to do larger and larger projects more frequently. I eventually became the lead engineer there for several years. During that time I was also building my own studio to work on side projects not associated with the studio I worked at. Eventually (around corona time) I migrated to full time at my own studio. I felt I had collected enough knowledge and experience over the thousands of hours spent in a professional working studio.
My goal with Ronin Music Studio is to have recording be an experience, and a great one at that. With that in mind I always try to truly discover the vision of the artist, and to fulfill that vision. I always try to achieve what is best for the song, their music, and the artists themselves.
I am thrilled to report that I have stayed busy full time as a recording engineer, music producer, mixing engineer and mastering engineer.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Always doing the best than I can, above and beyond what is solicited or asked. I believe doing a great job consistently is the key to consistent clients. If you get new clients from ads and the like, and don’t maintain them due to mediocre results, you’re no better off than when you started. It’s essentially starting your business over again and again instead of building a lasting, working relationship.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
There are rules. I learned that there are no rules in music or recording. Whatever achieves the desired outcome is the correct path to take.
For Example: Don’t plug the output of a preamp into the input of another preamp. Unless of course you want some fierce and unique distortion.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://roninmusicstudios.wixsite.com/roninmusicstudio
- Instagram: @thatmanbehindthecurtain
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daniel.bourget.5?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-bourget-0727308a