There are many saying that have no real origin.

This is one of my favorite because it is a law in the studio. Not a person in the world can walk into an unfamiliar situation and expect to have an easy go of it. Being prepared to deal with the hurdles that one encounters in this industry is the best way to progress forward. I've always been a firm believer in showing up early, especially in the studio. As an intern, assistant, engineer, whatever the title, being early will never work against you. As an audio professional, you are expected to be ready to go from the moment the clock starts ticking for the client. This means showing up early, preparing the studio, doing any necessary routing, setting up microphones, pre-amps, checking the tape machines, or, computer is you prefer. None of your clients will be very happy if you have to spend half their time getting yourself ready.

Most of the problems that are encountered during sessions aren't technical. Our systems have become much more reliable than ever before, so has the supporting infrastructure like cables, connectore, etc... This only leaves one possibility: user error.

This "prevention" that I speak of go so far as knowing the ENTIRE system. Like I've said many times before, "It's Not Just Pro Tools". There also has to be a level of education on the computer system you are working with, the associated technology, like F/W and SCSI Drives, associated Hardware FX processing, MIDI Synthesizers and Controlers. All these things play a huge role in the greater context. A succesful engineer is able to see the "Whole Picture" not just what is going on in the moment.

Look at it this way, how can you do a session if you don't know how to turn the computer on. I say this because it has happened to me several years ago. I was working at a client's private studio. It was early in the day and I still hadn't gotten in to work. I get a phone call from the client telling me that the computer power button isn't working and that is is broken. This was not possible because the computer was less than 2 day old. Turns out that said client had mistaken the computer speaker for the power button. I kid you not. The computer was fine, just, minus a speaker.

Once again, another example of not being prepared.

Finally, do not overlook the grand finale. Make sure you know how to end a session properly. This might take some planning on the part of the engineer. Should you print the effects to audio tracks, how to get the entire session to the client in a deliverable form such as CD/DVD or F/W Drive, general backup and documentation of all the routing of the patch bay, the list goes on, and on, and on.... It seems like it never ends.

I'm not saying that it's easy, but, doing these things can make day to day work a lot easier. Spend some time getting to know your equipment.

Education can get all of us a long way.