the quietest ive ever gone is when i did a gig at the alamo drafthouse for one of those live movie scores and i had my princeton chorus (2 x 10) volume at 2. that is quieter than when i practice at home, but it ended up sounding really good. i had alot of wah-fuzz/noise stuff going and it still sounded really full. soundman knew what he was doing. and im sure recording school can get your foot in the door, but of the 3 or 4 people i know working in studios or doing audio for a living it was just getting in at a studio and paying your dues, working your way up, and/or knowing the right people. for example, my band from the late 90's was recording at a studio here in austin and the other guitarist schmoozed his way into 'apprenticing' for them, which led to a job as an engineer and then parlayed that into a job working at one of the biggest studios in town. and this guy was an english major!
