My Fourth Week Interning with Mark Abrams

From March 31–April 6

This week seems to be a really effective balance of creative work and more regarding planning. It was fantastic and inspiring to feel like I was developing greater trust and responsibility.

I started the week off with some administrative tasks such as meeting with Mark to specifically talk goals for the week and what was great or not so great about the week prior. I then was able to get a session ready for Mark to mix by preparation and tuning the vocals for the track. Quite simple, yet it set the tone for a few hectic days. Tuesday I ran between working on email lists, updating the VMS recording website, and editing social media material. Between all that, I also tuned vocals for another session and got some rather useful mix suggestions from Mark on a project I'm working on. The ability to receive feedback like that in real time has been priceless in my internship; it has allowed me to progress at much faster.

I took some time on Wednesday researching Motion, the scheduling tool Mark uses. Organizing all the moving components is quite helpful, and now that I'm getting the hang of it, I can start giving more effective help to control the workflow. I also suggested a new YouTube series called "Into the Mix" that might feature behind-the-scenes views of Mark's work. It seemed like a great approach to combine promotion, narrative, and learning. Lastly , I got to observe Mark doing a revision session and continued working on some tuning from home.

Thursday was really busy. After helping create a priority list for current projects, I worked on more editing in Motion to align those priorities. I also helped map out forthcoming VMS Session postings and attended a meeting with a possible Puremix client. Many hats that day, but I liked working on the business as well as the artistic parts.

Friday was a little lighter, but still busy; I tuned additional vocals, dropped a thank-you gift from Mark to Chad and Neal, and conducted more from-home project assessments through Motion to get ready for the weekend.

The weekend itself consisted largely on distant work. I spoke with Mark and Leslie about getting everything entered into Motion, as well as Levi (from The Business Pilot) about perhaps putting an artificial intelligence booking phone system for VMS into use—pretty fascinating stuff that could save a lot of work down road. I also kept chipping away at vocal tuning on Sunday to stay ahead of the curve.

In general, this week felt like a step up. I’m starting to visualize how everything connects—editing, planning, client communication, and even tech upgrades. I'm enjoying the challenge of learning how to blend the technical side of audio with the organizing side of managing a studio.